Something Borrowed
by FinchelForever1218
Summary: She's the maid of honor. According to tradition, she's supposed to be the supportive best friend. Maybe even fool around with the best man a bit. The maid of honor is not supposed to start sleeping around with the groom. AU/based on Something Borrowed
1. Chapter 1

A/N-so this is a Finchel fic that sort of popped inside of my head while reading _Something Borrowed_. This fic is loosely based in it, so not everything will be the same. Hope people enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee (unfortunately!)…I don't own _Something Borrowed._

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><p><em>Chapter One<em>

Rachel Berry slumped in her office and starred at the plain, melancholy white walls. It was her thirtieth birthday, and as she looked at her life, she realized that she had now lived thirty years of absolute disappointment.

By thirty she was supposed to have been a big-time Broadway actress, have 2-3 kids, at least four Tonys, and of course, a loving husband. She wouldn't be living in some cramped hole of an apartment in Brooklyn, but a high end townhouse in the Upper East Side. How were her thirty years even spent? When did her life start going down the drain?

All throughout her childhood, she was somewhat the star of her tiny, rural community in Ohio. She wasn't popular, but her voice made her a star, and even though she was bullied on a daily basis for having two gay dads and a big nose, she never let it get to her. She was used to being an outcast and consoled that fact with the thought of her name in lights and her future fame and fortune.

That all changed in her sophomore year of high school, when Lima's golden girl—Quinn Fabray—asked her to sit with her "crew" at lunch. She never understood why Quinn had chosen her, but as the years went on, they became best friends.

Rachel overlooked the flaws in their friendship, and allowed herself to be in the shadow of Quinn. She ignored how Quinn would always steal her crushes, even once her boyfriend or how Quinn would always want to be the center of attention. Rachel considered these things minimal, and went on doing plays and musicals, and just singing her heart out.

Eventually, it was time for college, and Rachel and Quinn decided to go off the NYC together. Quinn wanted to be a PR agent, and Rachel was determined to make it big on Broadway. Quinn went to Colombia (her dad had gone there, it was expected), and Rachel went to the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.

She thinks that's when her life started to go downhill. At 21, she met a guy who was working in the mailroom in her residence hall. She was too short to reach her mailbox (she's only 5'2), so he helped her. It was time for his break, so they ended up going together to a local coffee house and talked for hours.

She found out is name was Finn Hudson and that he wanted to be a drummer, but that he was studying to be a sports writer. When she told him about her dreams of Broadway, he actually seemed genuinely interested, and she was shocked because most men weren't into her personality.

They continued hanging out for at least six months as friends. He hadn't met Quinn yet, but Rachel had talked and talked about him to her.

"So why don't you like him?" Quinn innocently asked.

Rachel blushed, "Uh, we're friends, he's not my type." That wasn't too much of a lie. Rachel had definitely thought of the possibility of maybe being more than just friends with him when reality had snuck back in and she realized he was way out of her league. He dated girls like Quinn, and that was the main reason that Rachel was hesitant to let them meet.

"Well, I want to meet him," Quinn sighed, "Invite him to that party I'm hosting at that new club."

And that's exactly what Rachel (stupidly) did.

She was at the party, getting herself a drink, when she saw him. Her heart fluttered when he shot her his lopsided grin and started heading her way, when Quinn grabbed his arm and took him to the dance floor.

Quinn always was the assertive one.

Rachel watched as her best friend and her new friend (and crush) danced. Of course, she thought he was enamored with her, but if she had watched closely enough, she would have seen Finn sending glances her way.

She couldn't take it anymore, so she walked outside, only to feel a big hand gently grab her shoulder. "Rach, are you, OK?" Finn was cut off by Rachel, who still wouldn't turn around, wanting to hide her tear-filled eyes.

"Uh yeah, just I want to get home," she stammered.

"I mean, are you OK with Quinn and me dancing? 'Cos she asked me out and—" he said, hoping she would turn around.

"Yeah, sounds great. Who knows what it will lead to?" she managed to croak out. She brushed the tears off her face and turned around to shoot him a quick smile. "I gotta go, don't want to stay out too late."

She practically ran back to her dorm (which was a least 15 blocks), and from there on decided to devote all time to her career. She ignored the pang in her chest at the thought of Finn and Quinn, and played off their relationship, thinking it wouldn't last.

By the time she graduated at the end of the year, Finn and Quinn are still dating. She blocked it out of her mind, and concentrated on auditioning for numerous plays and musicals, both off-Broadway and on.

She never got a role, but did almost always at least get a callback. She never gave up though, but still, decided to get a job in the meantime to pay the bills. Rachel became a music supervisor for BMG music, and even though it paid well, she desperately wanted to be a performer.

Quinn, of course, got her dream job fresh out of college, and Finn started working on his masters for becoming a sports journalist.

That's how her thirty years went. She still auditions from time-to-time for roles, but has adjusted herself to the fact that she'd have to stay behind the scenes in the music industry. And now, Finn and Quinn are engaged, while Rachel hasn't had a long term relationship since forever ago.

She sighed, remembering that Quinn was throwing her a party that night. She really wasn't in the mood to celebrate being thirty, but Quinn wouldn't take no for an answer. Even though it was her birthday, for some reason, Quinn said that Rachel had to be there "as the maid of honor in my wedding." How is that relevant to her birthday, she didn't know, but what Quinn wants, Quinn gets.

And to address the whole Rachel liking Finn thing, Rachel was long over that, and focused solely on the fact that Finn and Quinn were practically perfect for each other. Hell, even their names rhymed.

They were the kind of couple that people would stare at as they walked down the street. Honestly, even though Quinn suffered a fear of commitment, Rachel was surprised they hadn't gotten married sooner. Quinn loved attention, and with a wedding, she'd get all the attention in the world. Rachel just knew that Quinn would make a beautiful bride.

If Rachel didn't focus on how perfect Finn and Quinn were for each other, she'd start focusing on "what ifs" and she really didn't want to see how that would affect her.

So, she just sighed and continued her monotonous job as she thought about the dread of her actual thirtieth birthday party.

Thirty wasn't that old, right?

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><p>Rachel sighed as Quinn pulled her over to the bar to do shots. "Quinn, I know it's my birthday, but I really don't want to do shots."<p>

"Rach!" Quinn snapped, "This has been a tradition since we were twenty-one years old! Two shots, at least, per birthday!"

Rachel quickly downed the shots, not wanting to get in an argument with Quinn.

Quinn smiled, happy that she got what she wanted, and flounced to the stage. She grabbed the microphone, "Hello everyone!"

Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing in order to watch Quinn. She just had that "thing" that always made people want to pay attention to her and only her. "So, it's my maid of honor's birthday! She's turning thirty, and thank God, it isn't me," she grinned as people laughed at her joke that Rachel really didn't find too funny, "So I just, Rachel is amazing. She's my best friend and I love her because she introduced me to my soon-to-be husband after they had met at NYU. Happy birthday Rachie!" She got off stage and went up to Finn and gave him a passionate kiss to which the crowed "Awwed."

"Stealing the show at your birthday party," a voice came up behind Rachel, "She's priceless."

Rachel turned around and gave a grim grin to her closet friend besides Quinn, Blaine Anderson. "It's OK, really. I mean, she likes parties better than me."

He scoffed, but said no more. He nudged her when Quinn started downing tequila shots. "Oh, great, this should be fun," he said under his breath. He, as well as everyone else, knew that drunk Quinn was hyper Quinn—even more so than she was in the first place.

Rachel sighed as she watched her friend use the bartenders tie to drag herself on top of the bar and start dancing. She didn't understand why Quinn continued to shamelessly flirt with any guy that was legal even though she was engaged.

"Maybe I should go stop her," Rachel said.

Blaine's boyfriend and another one of her closest friends, Kurt, came up next to her, "Oh please, birthday girlie, she knows exactly what she's doing."

She continued to talk to Kurt and Blaine for awhile, when out of the corner of her eye she noticed Finn throw Quinn over his shoulder. Rachel couldn't tell if her was amused or irritated.

"I'm going to go make sure they don't need any help," Rachel said, gesturing to Finn and Quinn.

Blaine and Kurt just gave her knowing looks and let her go.

"Q, are you OK?" Rachel asked.

"She's fine," Finn sighed, "Just wasted."

"I'm perfectly fine Finn Hudson so put me down so I can go have some more fun! Ray, do you like your party?" Quinn yelled.

"Yes Quinn, thank you. Really, I'm having a great time."

Finn gave Rachel a small smile, and for a second she remembered when it was just the two of them, no Quinn involved.

They left and Rachel enviously wished she had someone to care for her like that.

Fifteen minutes later, Finn reappeared. "Quinn lost her jacket. Do you know where it is?"

"Her new Burberry one?" Rachel questioned, "I think it was over there."

He grabbed it and thanked Rachel. "Rach, happy birthday. I hope Quinn didn't ruin the party or anything."

She forced a laugh, "Oh no, it's always fun seeing what a drunken Quinn will do."

He chuckled and was about to leave when his coworker and best friend, Puck told him to stay a little while longer.

Finn eventually complied, and he and Rachel started a conversation at the bar. When the bar closed, Rachel was surprised when Finn asked if she wanted to go somewhere else and get another round, but she agreed.

They talked and drank for hours, and eventually, she thought they got a little too comfortable talking to each other—she blamed the alcohol.

"Now I remember why I had that huge crush on you back at NYU," Rachel muttered, then blushed when she realized he had heard her.

"You did not," he replied.

"Please, did too. Like you didn't know, I practically latched onto you right after we met," she rolled her eyes.

He smiled, "Who says I minded?"

She smirked, "Yeah well, that was forever ago, so don't worry about me going all stalker anymore."

"Why didn't you tell me how you felt?" he asked, all silliness aside.

Her eyes grew wide as he brushed his fingers against hers. She heard the bartender yell that it was the last call, so she used that as an opportunity to escape the conversation. "I'm going to get another drink, you want one?" she asked, and quickly shot up, avoiding his question.

He nodded and she came back with two beers. As they drank, it was silent—not awkward, but not necessarily comfortable

Finally, it was time to leave. Finn got them a cab, and she heard him tell the driver two stops. They were still silent.

Finally, the silence became unbearable for Rachel, so she stammered, "You know, I was just kidding about—" And then she felt his lips on hers.

She didn't know who initiated the kiss, but did it really matter? His hands were running through her hair, erasing any thoughts of 'THIS IS MY BEST FRIEND'S FIANCE' that should have been running through Rachel's head.

Rachel vaguely heard Finn tell the cab driver that they would only need one stop as she moaned in his mouth.

When they got to her apartment complex, she thanked God that the receptionist was a brainless idiot who wouldn't tell Quinn anything. As they were in the elevator, he pushed her against the wall. He grabbed the nape of her neck as he continued to kiss her while she ran her fingers through his hair.

And once they were in her apartment, her first day of being thirty was soon-to-be tainted by a scandal.

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><p>AN-so, like I said, the premise follows <em>Something Borrowed <em>book and soon movie. The rest of it will go in accordance to it, but will be different. The line in the summary "It's a thin line between love and friendship" is from the book by Emily Griffin. Please review if you like it!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N-sorry I haven't updated in a long time! I promise that I will try to make updates more frequently from now on!

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Something Borrowed

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Rachel's eyes fluttered open to the sound of her phone ringing—probably Quinn. She decided to ignore the call, and was going to go back to sleep when she felt a large hand resting on her body—her very naked body, she noticed. She clasped the sheet closer to her as she tried to remember what had happened the night before.

She turned thirty, had a party, got drunk, and then what, slept with some guy she met at the party? Real great way to start age decade.

Rachel turned, wondering who her partner had been. Her eyes widened when she saw the tall, sleeping form of Finn Hudson, he best friend's fiancé.

"Ahhh," Rachel yelled, as she jumped out of the bed, making sure to keep the thin sheet over her—a tiny veil of dignity. She looked at her phone, finding out that it was, in fact, Quinn calling.

Finn's eyes shot open and he looked around, confused. He saw Rachel collapse on the ground, tears streaming down her face, cell phone in hand. He suddenly felt the odd urge to wrap his arms around her and comfort her, but he could tell that probably wouldn't be the best in this situation.

He got up, feeling lucky that he had put his boxers on after _it._ He heard her chant over and over, "What did I do? What did we do?"

"Rachel," he said, pulling his pants over his legs, "Calm down. It's going to be fine."

She looked at him, her eyes still pooling with tears, "Fine? I just slept with my best friend's soon-to-be husband and you expect me to think everything is 'going to be fine.' And oh my God, she's calling. What do I do? Do I pick up? Do I tell her? Do I apologize—?"

Finn cut her off, "No, whatever you do, don't call her. We were just drunk and um, incoherent, and ugh, just fuck, we can't tell her."

That only made Rachel cry even more, "She's my best friend. I am such an awful person. I'm such a slut. How could I do this to Quinn?"

"Look, here's what we're going to say. I'll tell Puck to cover for me OK? I'll tell Quinn that I was with Puck, you know, bar hopping. Then, I crashed at his place. Everything will be fine," Finn said, as he put on his shirt, almost trying to reassure himself that he hadn't committed such an asshole move.

Rachel nodded, "What should I tell her?"

"Tell her that, shit if I know. Um, that you left the party and saw me still hanging out with Puck—but only if she asks about me," he checked his phone, "Shit, she's called and texted a billion times."

Rachel's eyes followed his as he made his way toward the door. "Rachel, I just need you to know, I am so sorry," he said.

"Me too," she replied, wondering why she felt a slight pang to see him leave.

Once he left, they'd go back to being the groom and the maid of honor—nothing more, nothing less. The thing that scared Rachel the most, however, was that she wasn't sure she liked the thought of that.

After an hour or two of intensely scrubbing the guilt away in the shower, she finally mustered up enough courage to call Quinn. "Hey Quinny, sorry I missed your call but I-" she started, but was interrupted.

"Yeah, why the fuck didn't you answer my call? You know what, never mind, I forgive you. I was calling to figure out if you had seen my dickwad of a fiancé, but he's home now. He was out with Puck, you know, his coworker, and he didn't bother to call or text at all. And to think, all the stuff I do for him…" Quinn ranted.

"Well, all's well now then, right?" Rachel fearfully asked.

"Yeah, if he's telling the truth," Quinn sighed, "Wait, do you think that he's cheating on me with some whore or something!"

Rachel's stomach flipped over and she felt sick, "No, he would never do that to you."

"He better not because if I find out that he did, the little tramp won't know what hit her," Quinn snapped, "And anyways, he'd be stupid to cheat because there's no one better than Q here anyway."

"How would you know she's a tramp?" Rachel defensively asked. She didn't know why, but all remorse and guilt she had, had somewhat vanished.

"Because, any girl who throws herself at a happily engaged man is a slut," Quinn replied indifferently.

Rachel felt even worse now, but for a different reason. Did Finn see her as some slut that threw herself at him? Was she just some weird liberation thing that men used before they got married?

"Anyways, today we are going dress shopping some more. I already picked out your dress, it's electric blue," Quinn said when Rachel didn't say anything.

Rachel groaned, "Quinn, I hate to break it to you, but you know that I look horrendous in that color."

"I know," Quinn snapped, "That's why I chose it."

"So you want me to look awful at your wedding?" Rachel asked.

"Not awful. You'll look better than the other bridesmaids. I have to make you guys look bad, so I look even more incredible than I already do," Quinn laughed, "And anyways, with me in a wedding dress—which we still need to find, by the way—no one's going to want to look at any other girls."

Rachel inwardly seethed. This was such a Quinn thing to do. She didn't understand why she had never really felt this hostile about Quinn's controlling behavior. She hoped it had nothing to do with the fact that she had just slept with Quinn's fiancé. "Well, you'll be as beautiful as ever, but, I don't know if today would be such a good idea. I have an audition tomorrow and I need to prepare my vocal chords," Rachel sighed. She at least wasn't lying. She really did have an audition, but she didn't need any more preparation.

"An audition. You're still doing those?" Quinn drawled.

"Why would I not?" Rachel asked, offended.

"Well, I mean, you're super amazing, but don't you think your time has passed? I mean, come on," Quinn sighed, "You're thirty."

"So?"

"Never mind. Just prepare later and meet me at Gucci on 5th in like an hour. Kay, love you, gotta go, Finn's trying to talk to me about our timeshare at the Hamptons for this year," Quinn said, and hung up.

Rachel sighed and resisted the urge to take another shower—to try to "wash" away the guilt. She really also wanted to get rid of the feeling in her stomach, the longing for Finn. She stopped liking him years ago, so why did she feel such longing for him?

And to make matters worse, thinking about the way Finn's hands felt on her, well, that washed away the guilt more than anything, and that frightened Rachel to no end.

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><p>Rachel carelessly tugged at the fabric that was currently resting on her body. She ignored the snickers from Quinn's PR friends—Santana and Brittany when the bridal store assistant commented on how awful the dress looked on her. She knew that the color electric blue made her look like a druggie with small boobs and a large nose, but did she need some uneducated, frumpy dress lady telling her that?<p>

"I told Quinn that this color looks bad on me," Rachel sighed.

"It'll do," Quinn said, not looking up from her phone. She had been texting Finn all morning, and Rachel tried not to seem so interested in their conversation.

Rachel was allowed to take the dress off, and then flopped on the couch next to Quinn. She felt victorious when she noticed that the dresses for Santana and Brittany looked horrible—worse than hers. Rachel honestly thought Quinn was going overboard with the whole making others look bad so she could look good thing, but she refrained from saying anything.

"So Rachel," Quinn smiled, a genuine smile, "Guess what!"

"What?" Rachel asked, intrigued.

"You know Finn's amazingly gorgeous coworker, Noah Puckerman? Well, he just texted me and asked for your number. He liked you Rach!" Quinn giddily exclaimed. She loved to play matchmaker.

"Uh, I don't know Quinn," Rachel sighed, her mind wandering to a certain tall drummer, "I mean, I barely know the guy."

"Please! I barely knew Finn before we started dating—and look how we turned out!" Quinn smiled.

'Because I really want my boyfriend to cheat on me with my best friend,' Rachel thought to herself. She shrugged and finally gave into Quinn, "Fine, but if it doesn't work out, the house at the Hamptons is going to be awkward."

Quinn grinned, "Besides, you of all people cannot afford to be picky. And don't worry; the sexual tension will be entertaining! Speaking of which, you've paid for your part right? Because we were considering going down like next weekend probably."

Picky? We? "Who?" Rachel asked.

"Finn and me, duh! God Rachel, you're so stupid. Where's your head today?" Quinn replied.

Why she had even asked, Rachel had no idea. She hoped it had nothing to do with where her head had been just a few hours ago. "Uh, I'm just stressed about work," Rachel lied, "Did you give him my number?"

"Hell yes!" Quinn laughed, and then looked up at Santana and Brittany, "Oh my gosh, you guys look worse than I even imagined!"

The duo (who Rachel believed were in some sort sexual relationship) looked at Quinn, confused. "What the fuck do you mean Fabray?" Santana asked.

Rachel bit her lip, forcing herself not to laugh. She might have hated Santana, but she loved when she snapped at Quinn—which happened quite periodically.

"Oh nothing," Quinn shrugged it off, "Anyway, Rach, for the Hamptons, Kurt, Blaine, and probably Mercedes are coming, right?"

"Yeah," Rachel said, annoyed with the constant reminder of the Hamptons.

Every year, the group (consisting of Rachel, Quinn, Finn, Puck, Kurt, Blaine, San, Britt, and sometimes Mercedes) would all get a timeshare together at the Hamptons. They would go up for random weekends, the Fourth of July, and birthdays. Rachel normally had fun, but she really didn't want to be stuck in the same house as her best friend and her fiancé—the same fiancé she had slept with.

"Well, that'll be fun," Quinn said, then noticing Santana and Brittany still glaring at her, she snapped, "Look, it's my day, my choice for dressing. Fucking deal with it or bail. Two bimbos aren't that irreplaceable."

Santana gaped at her, while Brittany just stared blankly—sometimes, Rachel really questioned that girl's mind.

Quinn scoffed and told the dress lady that they were all set. "Rach, you want to go out to lunch? Leave the closeted lovers to themselves…"

Rachel stared in shock at her friend. "Um, uh, OK." She flashed an apologetic look at Santana and Brittany, who had never really publically come out with their relationship.

Quinn flounced out of the store, smiling at everyone as she left. She loved to be center of attention and sometimes Rachel thought that Quinn only was marrying Finn so she could have a wedding, and be the center of attention. After all, the only thing Quinn loved as much as attention was single life, so Rachel knew that it would be hard for her to give that up. (She heard about it still to this day.)

"Finn's with Puck right now, playing Call of Duty or something, so how about we invite them to eat with us!" Quinn grinned, "This will be a chance for you to get to know Puck."

"W-wait," Rachel said, as Quinn started texting furiously on her phone.

"Wait for what Rach? This is the perfect opportunity for you and Puck to make a connection. I'm not sure why you need it though, the guy is super fine," Quinn sighed dreamily.

Rachel's eyebrows furrowed—why did Quinn always talk about men like they were pieces of meat? "Whatever."

"Don't whatever me, Rachel Berry!" Quinn said, opening the door to the restaurant they were meeting the guys at, "I am a supreme matchmaker!"

"Oh really, how do you match people?" Rachel sarcastically replied.

"I go by looks. Now, I'm sort of stretching it a bit by pairing you with Puck, but it'll be fine," Quinn joked, then seeing Rachel's heartbroken glare, she added, "Just kidding. God, sometimes your insecurities about your looks are so annoying!"

Rachel rolled her eyes, but said nothing more on the matter. She groaned when she saw Puck waving them to a table, while Finn just sat there, looking uncomfortable. Well, this was going to be awkward.

When Rachel went to take her seat, she was touched that Puck stood up to pull it out for her. Maybe going out with him once or twice wouldn't be so bad after all. She ignored Finn's pointed look at her.

"So," Quinn said, sitting down and then giving Finn a peck on the cheek, "Santana totally was in bitch mode today."

"Awh, that's just San for you," Puck grinned.

"Well, you did kind of tell her that you purposely made her look awful and then ousted her to the whole store," Rachel found herself snapping. She really didn't mean to, but her mouth betrayed her.

"Please, like she and Brittany are actually dating! Those two are so fluid, I doubt they could even be in a committed relationship," Quinn replied nonchalantly.

"So, Rachel," Puck smiled, trying to get away from the topic, "Your party was fun. Anything big happen on the first night of being thirty?"

Finn choked on his drink, and Rachel looked at him in alarm. She quickly averted her eyes, and answered, "Uh, nope. Still same old, same old." Unless you count betraying your best friend of forever and fucking her fiancé big.

The conversation drifted to the wedding eventually, and for once, Rachel was actually relieved. She avoided Finn's intense stares, and tried not to blush as Puck would "accidentally brush his knee against hers. Her love life used to be nonexistent, so why was it suddenly so complicated? Why couldn't she find a happy medium?

She nodded in the appropriate places and picked at her salad. She really hoped that everything involving Finn and Quinn wouldn't be awkward for the rest of her life because of one drunken mistake.

'But was it really a mistake?' a voice inside her head nagged, 'It didn't feel like a mistake—it felt so good, so right. Didn't you like Finn first anyway?'

She almost was convinced, but then the rational and nice side of her mind would speak out, 'Quinn's you're best friend, you can't do this too her,' and she would hate herself all over again.

But as she accidentally touched Finn's hand as she was reaching for the salt, she wasn't sure how much longer she could stand being rational.

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><p>AN-So, hope you guys liked that chapter! I promise it will get more eventful, with more Finchel moments and jealous Finn (I'm in love with jealous Finn). This chapter was more to show the Quinn/Rachel relationship, and of course, for Rachel and Finn to realize what they had done…

Reviews are loved and appreciated, but just reading this story is amazing too!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N-Hey I'm back! Thanks for all the kind reviews! One is anonymous, but it sort of crucial to the story and all of you that I address their very thoughtful and important question

GeekyGleek wrote:

"Can't wait to read more! Just one question if Puck goes to the Hamptons with them every year, why is he just getting to know Rachel? Shouldn't they already know who eachother are atleat? I was just confused about that."

So the answer is kind of simple and I should have explained it. Basically, they haven't really talked past usual greetings and sometimes, Puck didn't even go at all. They've only had that tradition for like 3 years, so it was bad writing on my part not to thoroughly go through that…Because it didn't really make sense before, so thank you so much for addressing that!

I'm going to start replying directly to reviews, unless they are anonymous, then I will address them with my next post. For now, all of you guys that reviewed are friggn' amazing, so I hate that I haven't replied to you guys. But I will try to from now on reply to all reviews. Thanks so much for caring enough about this story to review, you guys rock!

Another thing, most of you who read this story are Finchel fans (like myself), but for anyone who has read my Puckleberry fic "Dribbling with Possibilities," I probably won't do a sequel after all, unless like a bunch of people want (review or PM) for it. I have so many ideas for some fun Finchel fics, and now that I love Finn again (I've always been Finchel, but for awhile, I didn't think Finn was deserving of Rachel—season 2, post-breakup Fuinn disgustingness!)

Luckily, tomorrow, Fuinn will start to unravel bigtime…And in "Funeral" they are supposed to be over (now I won't gag ever episode, or sob…). Did anyone see the clip of Jesse's apology? So sweet! I love me some J Groff and Lea stuff because St. Berry is a cute friendship!

Ok, on with the story…More jealous Finn to come!

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Something Borrowed..If I did, Quinn would die or just be destined to loneliness—but I do like Dianna..(Sorry Quinn fans! )

Chapter 3

For the last couple of weeks, things seemed to go back to normal. She went back into the routine of being the devoted maid of honor and best friend to Quinn, listened as she rambled on about the wedding and the Hamptons, and hung out with her best friends other than Quinn—Kurt, Blaine, and Mercedes.

She took to being civil and curt to Finn. Rachel really didn't think Quinn would notice, since she didn't even consider Rachel a threat in the first place, why would she start watching now? If only Quinn knew…

Everything was normal, at least, until Rachel checked her phone, and found that she had voicemail—ugh she hated voicemail.

She didn't bother listening to the number as the voicemail lady went on, and instead just prepared herself for either Quinn yelling at her about some wedding mishap, or her boss ragging on her for some stupid thing that some intern screwed up.

Her breath caught when she heard Finn's deep, husky—totally sexy—voice on the phone.

"Hey, uh Rach, it's Finn…" he stumbled awkwardly, as if searching for what to say, "I really think we need to talk, about, well you know, us? Or well, me and you, and what, uh, shit. Just call me back. We need to talk."

Oh no. What did they need to talk about? Didn't only couples use the phrase "We need to talk," in serious matters? Last time she bitterly checked, she and Finn weren't a couple. She decided to for once do the adult thing and return his call, rather than what she wanted to do, which was curl up in ball, eat some vegan ice cream, and sob in her pillow.

She dialed a number that used to be familiar to her, but hadn't been used that much in a while (she had always talked to him through Quinn). She sighed when she heard his faint "Hello" answer.

"Hello, this is Rachel Berry," she replied, trying to sound emotionless even though she was in a frenzy inside, "I am returning your call."

Finn chuckled and Rachel wondered how he could laugh at a time like this, "You always were the professional one."

"What did you need to talk about?" Rachel dismissed what he had just said, hoping to keep matters as uncomplicated as possible. Unfortunately with Rachel, things always seemed to become complicated at one point or another.

"Rachel," he sighed, "Are you trying to act like you don't remember?"

She finally broke down, "Of course I remember Finn, why else do you think I've been avoiding you? The guilt is killing me."

After he didn't respond, Rachel timidly asked, as if afraid of the answer, "Don't you feel guilty?"

Finn cleared his throat, "Extremely," he paused, "But, it feels different than feeling guilty about what we did. I mean, you have to know that I have never cheated on Quinn, and what we did shouldn't have happened. You get what I'm saying?"

_I have never cheated on Quinn before. What we did shouldn't have happened. _Oh yes, she understood perfectly. Really, this is what she wanted, a clean break. Well if "break" is the right word for an emotional one night stand with your best friend's fiancé. She forced herself not to cry because she really wasn't losing Finn.

After all, you can't lose what was never yours in the first place. "I feel the same way. We just have to remain civil toward one another and maybe eventually, we can go back to being friends. For now, we should keep our distance, and—" she started, but Finn interrupted her.

"Wait, what? That's not what I meant," he groaned, "What I mean is that I feel guilty because I feel like I caused a rift in you and Quinn's relationship, but for some reason, I don't feel bad about what we did."

Rachel's heart quickened and she hated herself for it, "Well, we were drunk. I mean, I feel awful, but maybe you don't as much because we were drunk and stupid and incoherent," she stopped, feeling sobs threatening to come out, "A-and you love Quinn enough to know that it didn't m-mean anything, so, that's probably it."

"Rachel," Finn said in a serious tone, "I wasn't that drunk."

"You weren't?" Rachel asked, cursing herself for sounding hopeful.

"No, I think unconsciously I've wanted this for a long time. And I hope you know that you're a great girl Rachel and I care about you," he stopped, then as an afterthought added, "And I don't regret what we did at all."

"This can't happen again, I hope you know I'm not that kind of girl," Rachel said, trying—and failing miserably—to keep her emotions under control.

"I know that Rachel. God, why do you think I feel so bad about putting you in this position! I agree with you, but I wanted, no needed, you to know how I feel about you," he softly said.

She ignored the tingling she felt in her chest when he said that. She gave a curt goodbye and quickly hung up the phone, hoping that he hadn't heard the sob that escaped right as she did so.

Rachel couldn't even fathom why she felt so attached to an old crush and the current fiancé of her best friend, but from that whole conversation with him, only one part stood out.

"I care about you," he had said.

She shook her head. She couldn't get attached. He cared about her, so? She cared about Blaine and Kurt, but she knew they didn't want to date her or sleep with her (if their domestic partnership wasn't an indication of that). She cared about her nana and her dads and Quinn, but she didn't want a relationship like that with them.

He cared about her as a friend obviously.

She cared about him a little bit differently.

She realized then that she needed to get over him. So, she texted Quinn and asked for Puck's number. Quinn quickly replied with his number, a winky face and the message "good luck hot stuff."

At this point, she needed all the luck she could get. She called Puck and he seemed really happy she called. They set up a date for that next Thursday night and she thought that maybe, just maybe, she was on the road to ridding herself of Finn Hudson.

Oh how wrong she was.

* * *

><p>Rachel moaned as Quinn said no to yet another dress in her closet.<p>

"Rachel!" Quinn shrieked, "I realize that you want me to finalize the decision on what to wear for your date, but seriously hon, I'm trying to do my best work here. You should be thanking me, not moaning."

They finally settled on a cute little—and tight—black dress that ended mid-thigh. Rachel hoped she didn't look slutty, but Quinn added a cute red cardigan that made it look cuter and more conservative. Quinn helped straighten Rachel's hair down, with her bangs swept to the side.

"God, Rachel, you look smokin'!" Quinn praised.

"Thanks Q, I really appreciate you doing this for me," Rachel said, trying to be as happy as Quinn was.

Quinn shrugged as to say, "No need," and then eventually (after a pre-date "talk"), left, and finally, it was 7:30, when Puck—Noah as Rachel liked to call him—arrived.

She heard her doorman buzz him in, and she was about to walk downstairs—in her adorable red pumps—when she heard him knocking at her door.

"Wow Rachel, you look beautiful," Puck said, he handed her a bouquet of a dozen red roses, and Rachel thanked him.

"Well, you don't look so bad yourself," she teased, "I'll just put these in some water, and then we can be on our way."

She sniffed the flowers. She had always loved roses, but still, she preferred orchids. Oh well, he was cute enough and she couldn't pick on him for not getting her roses.

"So where are we going? You didn't elaborate at all!" Rachel asked as he took her hand and led her out of the apartment complex and onto the busy street.

"Well, I know you're a vegan, but I considered you had already been to most of the vegan places around here, so I took matters into my own—highly skilled in cooking—hands and made us a picnic," he grinned.

She beamed at him. Maybe he wouldn't be so bad, as long as she could stop thinking about the way his calloused hands (he played guitar) felt scruffy compared to Finn's larger, softer ones. The ones her hands fit perfectly into. "That sounds great," she said as he led her into a taxi, "But wait, where are we picnicking?"

"I have a little spot for us on the roof of my penthouse suite," he chuckled.

Ok, so he was a tad bit pretentious, but she could deal with it. She tended to be somewhat conceited about herself, or at least, her talent too, or at least, she used to before the whole music supervisor thing. "Fun."

They arrived, and when they got up to the roof, Rachel saw that he had prepared a table, place settings and silverware, two chairs, and some candles. "I'm going to go get the food from my suite, I'll be right back," Puck said.

She nodded, and sat down at the table. Suddenly, her phone vibrated. She looked and groaned when she saw that she had a text from Quinn.

_Quinn:  
>Hey Berry, just wanted to see how your date with the hottie was going…I'm bored—shocker right?—and Finn's acting all moody…He keeps asking me about your date, it's kind of sweet in like the older brother protectiveness kind of way, but it's getting annoying…Oh God, here he goes again, I'll text you later chica!<br>XOXOXOXOXOXO TO ME AND YOU!_

She laughed as she saw Quinn's signature. It had remained the same for a while now. When Rachel had asked why Quinn wrote it to herself, she said, "If I'm wishing others hugs and kisses, I want some too! It's only fair."

She really did love Quinn, but sometimes, she was a little too egotistical for her own good.

Rachel quickly texted Quinn back that things were going great and that she'd give more details later, when Puck walked in with the basket.

They drank wine and had a great meal, but Rachel didn't feel that connection like she had felt with someone else.

As the date neared to an end, she let Puck kiss her chastely as she walked to her door, and agreed to seeing him again that Saturday for brunch.

She hated herself for comparing the kiss to a kiss with someone else that was totally taken.

She really needed to get a grip on herself.

* * *

><p>AN—so I know that, that was a super short chapter, but I really wanted to update because your reviews made me so happy…Plus with "Prom Queen" and Jesse coming back, I am going to be so busy analyzing and watching over and over again LOL..(unfortunately, it's true…it's kind of sad…)

Reviews are loved and as you can see, make me want to update sooner!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N-sorry I haven't updated in forever! And my last chapter was so short! I am determined to start getting more into it, but if any of y'all have read my other stories, it normally takes me a few chapters to get really into a story and make the chapters longer…I hope you guys are still interested in the story!

Also, I will introduce Sam in the story somewhat…I love him and Mercedes (I called it right after "Original Song" or maybe before that and after "Sexy")….Chord is such a cutie, so by association, I'm in love with Sammy Evans!

Disclaimer-I don't own Glee or Something Borrowed….

Chapter 4

Rachel really hated the Hamptons right now.

She hated looking for a cute bikini, when she knew that Quinn would look so much better than her anyway. She hated the drive up, which consisted of annoying songs blasting from the radio and gross fast food runs. Yes she hated all of that, but it was meek in comparison to something else.

Right now, she completely loathed the thought of being stuck in a medium sized house with Quinn, Finn, and Puck. Kurt, Blaine, and Mercedes would be fun though, so that wasn't a problem. Santana and Brittany were normally too caught up in the new men—and women—they could meet, or in each other to even bother her, so they were OK. She didn't even want to imagine how the trip was going to turn out. And she really didn't even know what she and Puck were. They had gone on a few "dates" and she actually really liked him—sort of. She couldn't stop thinking about her best friend's fiancé though, and she really hoped she wasn't turning out like one of those women in those stupid novels who think they aren't in the wrong because they "really love the guy."

Yeah she knew she wasn't right at all in this situation. She made an awful choice when she slept with Finn. Sure she was a little tipsy, but she certainly knew what she was doing. She had to stop thinking those things about Finn and focus more on being the best friend possible to Quinn. When did her life become so dramatic? Ugh, the trip to the Hamptons was going to be awful!

Plus, she was already in a bad mood from the outcome of her audition from last week. She had gone and gotten a callback, only to be told that she "just wasn't what they were looking for the skyrocket their production." What the fuck does that even mean?

She sighed and zipped up her weekend bag. Somehow, she had gotten "assigned" to being in a rental car with Quinn, Finn, and Puck. Mercedes, Blaine, and Kurt would travel up in their car, and Santana and Brittany apparently had some meeting so they were driving up a little later together.

Honestly, karma is a bitch.

Rachel picked up her bags and waited for Quinn to text her that they were there and ready to pick her up. She groaned when her phone rang, signaling that it was time for her to get her ass downstairs and into the car.

As soon as she was at the car, Puck exited the back seat and tried to take her bags from her to put in the back. Unfortunately, Finn got out at the same time and reached her—somehow—before Puck, and grabbed her bags. He sort of glared at her as he passed, however, and she really wondered what that, and the way he purposely brushed her hand as he took her bags, was about.

"Hey Rachel!" Quinn screeched once Rachel was situated in the back seat.

"Hello Quinnie!" Rachel forced a smile. She felt Puck kiss her cheek, and she cringed when she noticed Finn roll his eyes as he looked at the gesture from the rear view mirror.

"Ooo, already starting the PDA!" Quinn said, with a hint of jealousy, "I really don't want to turn around to see you too groping each other because seriously, I think my eyes would burn. You giving Puck a blow job here or on the beach might be porn for some people, but for me, I don't think so."

Rachel blushed and sputtered, while Puck just laughed. Finn just seemed to slam on the brakes a little too hard as he avoided incoming traffic. "Don't worry about it Quinn, no major groping for us—in public at least," Puck joked.

"I bet you do like groping in public though," Quinn said, somewhat lustfully, under her breath—only Rachel could hear her.

"So," Rachel sighed, trying to change the topic, "What's the plan for tonight?"

"Well, there's this amazing party that's going on at Cherry Wilson's dad's house, so I figured we could hit up Hershire's and then go chill there," Quinn said, "Or Finn thought we could barbeque, but I told him that would be lame-o for our first night of the season at the Hamptons!"

Hershire's was the bar they always went to while at the Hamptons. "Anything sounds awesome. But Finn on the grill?" Puck scoffed, "Yeah, that would not be a good option."

"Hey, I am a great griller," Finn snapped, with a little more anger than was necessary, "I'm sure you couldn't do any better asshole."

Puck threw is hands up in mock surrender and cast a "what can you do" look to Rachel. She dutifully smiled.

"Well, I say we go to the bar and then party all night. Finn, maybe you can bust out your bbq skills tomorrow night instead," Quinn sighed, "We don't want to be stay-ins on our first night in the big H."

"The big H?" Rachel laughed, "Is that what we're calling it now?"

"Sounds a little stupid to me, Q," Finn laughed with Rachel, then caught himself, "But not really, it's awesome.'The big H' it is!"

Quinn glared at her husband-to-be, "Whatever."

Rachel slumped down in her seat. Things were already super awkward. How would she deal with a whole weekend of this?

* * *

><p>She's really not sure how much more of this she can take. After the awful car ride, they got into the condo, waited for everyone—minus San and Britt—to arrive, and then were going to go to the beach. Between thoroughly avoiding Finn, ignoring Puck's attempts to share a room with her, and listening to Quinn's complaints about the wedding, she thinks she just might die of some sort of freak accident that cannot be explained by science.<p>

"So I think I was wrong about making your dresses totally ugly," Quinn said, grabbing a bikini from one of her suitcases, "I've decided that I actually would like you guys to look decent, so you, me, San, and Britt have to go shopping yet again. I already have some dresses I like, we just have to get them fitted and stuff, especially with Santana's boob job that already threw the seamstress off at least 5 times."

"What color?" Rachel asked.

"Yours will be red because you look pretty cute in red, and San's and Britt's will be pink, since they aren't the maid of honor," Quinn smiled.

"Oh OK, good, I was worried when you wanted me to wear that electric blue dress," Rachel replied.

"Finn talked me out of it, so thank him," Quinn sighed, "Anyway, you and Puckerman seem to be blissfully happy. Have you two fucked yet?"

Rachel blushed, "Must you be so crass? And if you must know, no we have not."

"What!" Quinn squeaked as she followed her to her room.

Rachel shut the door to her room as soon as Quinn was in it, "Well, I mean we've made out and stuff, but I don't even know if we're exclusive or not…I mean, I'm not going to have sex with him if we're not in a relationship." Plus, I'm sort of in serious "like" with your fiancé.

"Finn and I had sex on our second date! We weren't exclusive, just horny! When's the last time you had sex anyway?" Quinn's voice fell to a whisper on her last question.

"Um, I don't know, it hasn't been that long," Rachel said.

"With who?" Quinn pressed.

Your fiancé. "This guy at work," Rachel replied.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"It wasn't a big deal," Rachel sighed. It just could have destroyed your impending marriage.

"From now on, please tell me this kind of information right after! We're besties, we share this kind of information," Quinn smiled.

Rachel chuckled, remembering the good parts of her and Quinn's friendship. She had to stop the feelings she had for Finn. She wouldn't sacrifice her friendship with Quinn just because of Finn. "Fine. He keeps asking me to share a room, but I don't know. Should I ask if we're exclusive?" Rachel asked.

"Yes. Tie him down. And then, seal the deal with sex," Quinn replied.

"Sex isn't everything," Rachel quipped.

"But it's a big part of everything," Quinn said, "You need to make sure he doesn't go running off to someone else just because you aren't giving it to him."

Rachel cringed, "Changing the subject. Which bikini should I wear?" She opened her bag to reveal a few bikinis.

"I like the black one, but the yellow and pink one is hot too. You're thirty, how much longer can you wear bikinis?" Quinn squinted at Rachel's body.

"Seriously, Quinn!"

"Sorry, sorry. You have a few more years left. You're lucky you're in shape, otherwise you'd be done by now," Quinn laughed.

"You do realize you're turning thirty in a few months, right?" Rachel snapped.

"Yes, but for now, I'm blissfully 29!" Quinn said, "And I'm getting married, I am such a kill-joy."

"Quinn, you love Finn, don't start on your 'living life' and 'anti-marriage' rants again," Rachel warned.

"But do I love him…I do, I think, whatever, let's just go to the beach. Ray, just choose a bikini, OK?" Quinn said.

Rachel was taken-back by Quinn's sudden nervousness about her wedding, but decided to brush it aside as "pre-wedding jitters" and put on the black bikini. She thought this bikini at least made her boobs appear larger—she always had small boobs. She knew she didn't look as good as Quinn, even though she was in shape, but ignored that feeling and decided to just have fun on the beach.

They walked downstairs, and noticing that Finn, Puck, Blaine, Kurt, and Mercedes were already at the beach, went outside.

Quinn immediately latched onto Finn and they started walking along the beach together, happily unaware of anyone around them. Puck waved her over and she ran over to him. He kissed her cheek and told her to set her towel next to his. She saw Mercedes talking to some cute blonde guy a few houses away. Then she looked beside her and saw Blaine and Kurt sitting next to each other on their towel. Everyone was set in their couple like formation…She wondered why she wished she was with someone else.

"Rach, you look incredibly hot, I must say," Blaine came up to her and hugged her, "Trying to impress someone?" He looked at Finn. How did he know?

"What are you talking about?" Rachel's eyes widened.

"Puck," Blaine replied, still looking at Finn.

"Yeah," she said, her voice traced with hints of nervousness and guilt.

"I never thought they'd get married," Blaine said, now looking at Rachel.

Taken aback, she pressed, "What do you mean?"

"They just don't, or at least didn't, seem to fit," Blaine said, "Well, anyway, Kurt's waving me back. Go enjoy your new beau."

Rachel waved as he walked back to Kurt. She sat out on her towel and was about to pull out her Itouch to listen to some music when a muscular arm pulled her up. "Come on Rachel, let's get wet," Puck drawled.

She blushed at his innuendo, but took his hand, laughing. "Is that what you say to all the girls?"

"Only you, babe," he smirked.

"So wait, are we an 'only me' kind of thing now?" Rachel said.

He starred at her blankly, obviously confused by her question. "Never mind, let's get in the water."

They splashed in the ocean for a while, Puck laughing as he tried to dunk Rachel underwater, and Rachel ignoring glares from Finn. She and Finn weren't together, so he had no reason to glare at her for having fun in the ocean.

She screamed as Puck finally succeeded in submerging her. As her head reached the surface again, she was surprised when she felt Puck's guitar-calloused hands cradle her face and pull her in for a kiss. They kissed for a little bit, probably enough to be considered a make out. She ignored the fact that she didn't feel sparks like she felt with Finn. Or the fact that it seemed so wrong to be kissing someone other than Finn.

When they pulled away, Quinn was catcalling, Finn was scowling, and Blaine had a knowing look on his face. Again she was asking the question: When did her life come to this?

"So, uh, maybe I should go get ready for the party, I guess," Rachel said, a little breathless.

He smiled at her, "Yeah, wouldn't want bridezilla to get upset with us being late or anything," he said. He gave her a peck on the cheek and walked with her out of the water and back into the condo.

"See you soon Noah," she smiled.

She went upstairs and to her room. She took off her wet bikini, wrapped a towel around herself, got the clothes she wanted to wear for the party/bar time, and walked out of her room to the bathroom.

She had turned on the shower when she felt a hand wrap around her towel-clad body. She squeaked as the unknown hand grazed her breast and turned around.

"Finn, what are you doing! You need to leave right now," she said, "This is highly inappropriate, and oh Finn…" She moaned his he started to suck on her neck. His hands were doing things to her body that she had only heard about from others. "We can't do this."

"Tell me Rach, does he make you feel like this? Does he make you moan his name?" he said, only stopping to give her a passionate kiss. He continued to kiss her and Rachel felt those sparks she remembered from when they had kissed before. The sparks she didn't feel with her boyfriend. The sparks he should be feeling with his fiancé—her best friend.

Talk about a turn-off. "OK, this needs to stop now," Rachel said, firmly. She pushed him off of her now naked body. "I can't deal with this Finn. You have a fiancé, and I have a boyfriend. Oh my God, I'm not cheating on my semi-boyfriend. And I'm cheating on my longest friend. And you, you're cheating on your fiancé, and your friendship with Noah," she paused and slumped down on the bathroom floor, "Oh my gosh, we are such sluts." She felt tears pool from her eyes and suddenly, Finn's hand was on her back, rubbing soothing circles. She blushed when she thought of what those hands were previously doing a few moments ago. "This really cannot happen ever again," she sighed.

She grabbed her clothes, abandoned the idea of taking a shower, wrapped the towel around herself, and left the bathroom. As she was leaving she stupidly turned back—which is the thing that one shouldn't do when they are trying to get over someone—and saw Finn with his head in his hands. He looked so broken, as disheartened as she was. She forced herself to look away and slam the door shut.

She threw on her dress and tried to fix her mussed hair. Hopefully the night would get better with the impending Hamptons party. She assumed it would not.

* * *

><p>So far, so awkward. Was everything going to completely suck from now on? Quinn wouldn't stop bitching at her for everything (Rachel assumed she was jealous of her make out with Puck) and Finn was now avoiding her. Granted they weren't talking in the first place, but still, now it was like they were going out of their way to avoid each other.<p>

Quinn would start to notice soon, but for now, she was too hyped up on the fact that Mercedes had scored a date with Sam Evans, one of the major bachelors well known in Manhattan. They already looked like they were totally into each other, and Rachel couldn't be happier for her friend. Quinn however, was not.

"I mean, seriously, why her? Why didn't he go after me or something? Seriously! He must be like an idiot or something!" Quinn sighed as she looked at the cozy pair at the bar.

"Quinn," Rachel glared, "One, you're engaged, and two, they seem to really like each other, be happy for them."

The party had been fun—but of course awkward-, but the real fun was normally the after-party-esque event at Hershire's.

"What the fuck ever. It's weird. I mean she hasn't even been on the dating scene in forever and now she lands Sammie Evans! I mean Santana and Brittany didn't even score him at that party last year, and they offered themselves together," Quinn rolled her eyes thinking of those girls and their antics.

"It's done now. They are going on a date, let's just drop it, OK?" Rachel said.

"Fine, let's talk about something else, like the intensely amazing sex I just had before the party!" Quinn yelped, downing the rest of her drink.

"S-sex?" Rachel's mouth formed an o and she felt her heart drop to her stomach.

"Yeah, I don't know what has gotten into Finn, but seriously, you know how you hitched a ride with Brittany and Santana when they got here?"

"Yes," Rachel held back tears.

"Well, you probably didn't see Finn and me for awhile once you got to the party because we were totally going at it. I felt like a horny teenager!" Quinn prattled, oblivious to Rachel's heartache.

So that's how it was. He got jealous, played with her heartstrings, and then went and had hot sex with his fiancé. She was totally going to try harder to get over the asshole.

"Awesome?" Rachel replied, wondering what she was supposed to say. She was incredibly pissed off at one Finn Hudson. He couldn't just practically _molest _her and then make her feel bad and then go out and fuck Quinn. She was done with his games, she was fucking done. "You know, I actually have to get back to the condo. I'll have Noah walk me back."

Quinn gave her a knowing smirk and returned to nursing her vodka.

Rachel found Puck and walked over to him. She went up to him and whispered that she wanted to go back to the beach condo—with him. He smirked at her and threw his arm around her. She started kissing his neck and whispered very suggestive things in his ear as they left the bar. It was only a few blocks from the condo, and she was really in the mood for revenge. She caught Finn's eye as she left, and resisted the urge to give him the middle finger as he gave her a heartbroken expression. Her phone rang and she saw a text from Finn that read "What the fuck?"

She glared, but replied, "Add an –ing and obviously it was you and Quinn before the party." She realized it was totally juvenile and stupid, but she was very upset. And as she slept with Puck that night, she felt her heart break as she realized that she was doing a pretty crappy job of keeping her feelings platonic for Finn.

She was totally falling for him.

* * *

><p>The morning after was awkward. They semi-cuddled, but then she heard Quinn get up and call everyone down for breakfast, and realized that everyone would know of her and Puck's night together and quite frankly, she just wanted to forget it. It didn't feel right at all. She kept imagining Finn, and that can't be healthy when she's supposed to be having sex with Puck.<p>

Yeah, it's not healthy at all.

She kissed Puck as he headed to his room and quickly got her clothes on. She fixed her hair and tried to cover the hickey on her night with concealer—to no avail. Rachel rushed downstairs and ignored glances from everyone who was already seated at the table—minus Puck.

Unfortunately, her seat was directly across from Finn, so she had to stare at his pissed off face the whole time pretty much. She played with the food on her plate, not exactly hungry. Quinn was going on about the day she had planned for them—total beach day, bbq for lunch, and leftovers for dinner. Mercedes was absent, so obviously she and Sam had really hit it off. Kurt and Blaine were as happy as ever, and Puck was leering at Rachel. Santana and Brittany had their hands under the table the whole time, so Rachel didn't even want to imagine what was happening there. She finally looked up, only to see Finn starring at her with darkened eyes.

"Uh, I'm done, I'm going to go walk on the beach real quick, for some, um, air. Not feeling that well you see…" Rachel said and quickly got up from the table and went outside.

Blaine got up and followed her. He went outside and called her name.

"Hey, hey, why are you crying?" he asked worriedly as she turned around to face him.

"Blaine, how did you know?"

"Know what?" he asked.

"About me and Finn," she sobbed.

"Oh," he sighed, the realization kicking in, "I just guessed."

"Well, I'm an idiot right? We slept together and I guess I've always had a little crush on him," Rachel sighed, "And then he got pissed when I was Puck and kissed me again, and then he slept with Quinn, and then I slept with Puck."

"Rach, you're not an idiot," he put an arm around her, "You just made some stupid choices."

"I don't know what to do," she cried into his chest.

"Rachel, I can't tell you what to do," he replied, "But I know that you and Finn really need to talk. The tension at the table was disturbing."

"I can't," she said.

"Why?"

"I don't know!" she yelled.

"Is it because you don't want the closure? Or because you're worried it won't lead to closure?" Blaine asked. Damn him and his psychologist ways.

"Look, Blaine, I'll talk to him, just stop psychoanalyzing me, OK," Rachel wiped her tears away.

"Fine, how about I analyze everyone else on this fucked up trip," he laughed, "There's Santana and Brittany, who are totally with each other. Then there's Mercedes who's all hooked on Sam—dirty joke inserted somewhere there. And then there's you and Finn who keep looking like you're Romeo and Juliet or something. Then there's Puck and Kurt who are unaware. And then there's Quinn, wow, Quinn, who is oblivious and keeps shooting 'fuck-me' eyes at both Finn and Puck—mainly Puck."

"It took you a doctorate to figure that out?" Rachel quipped.

"I guess so," he laughed, "But on a serious note, we are really a fucked group of friends."

"Ah, adulthood rocks, doesn't it?" Rachel frowned, "When did my life become a soap opera? Or better yet, when did I start asking the question 'when did my life…?'"

"When was it not?" Blaine smiled.

They walked back to the condo, Blaine's arm still wrapped around Rachel. The group had already left the table and were in their respective rooms getting ready for the "fun-filled" day Quinn had planned. Rachel was walking up to her room when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

One missed call. Finn. Voicemail: "Rach, we need to talk. Meet me at the park near the condo."

She sighed, and considered ignoring the voicemail. She knew it wasn't the mature thing to do, so she turned back around and went to go meet her friend's fiancé at the park.

The park was surprisingly empty. It was 11:00 and normally, kids were already playing on the grass, and families were setting up picnics. She saw Finn's big frame sitting on one of the small benches.

Rachel quietly sat next to him. They sat in silence, until Finn broke it, "What are we doing?"

"I don't know what you mean," she said, deciding to remain impassive for as long as she could.

"Don't pretend to be fucking clueless. I mean, you and me, what the fuck are we doing?" he asked, his voice rising slightly.

"Obviously and thankfully not each other," she snapped and stood up from the bench, "I don't understand why you get so mad at me when I try to move on, and then you kiss me, and then go and have sex with your fiancé. You don't make any sense."

"Oh and you sleeping with Puck does make sense! Rachel, I don't get you. It's like one moment you act like you care about me, and the next, you act like you fucking hate me." He stood up too, and looked her in the eyes.

"Why does it matter to you how I feel about you!" she yelled, tears falling from her eyes.

"Because I care about you…So fucking much. Too much probably, way too much," he said, then slumped down on the bench.

She felt her resolve start to crumble as she sat right back down next to him. "I shouldn't have slept with Noah. It was a stupid and rash move, and it was only because I was jealous when I heard of the 'amazing sex' you and Quinn had. I just, I was hurt. I can't explain it and I really don't want to because then I'm worried what the consequences might be," she said.

He grabbed her hand, "I slept with Quinn because I was pissed about you and Puck. I just, I was a total asshole in sleeping with her, and really, I shouldn't be this worried about what this means for us."

"It means that we obviously have unresolved feelings for each other," she said, "But I don't think we should act on those feelings, it, it wouldn't turn out well."

"Is that what you really want?" he asked, looking at her with those brown eyes she had dreamed about for a while now.

"No," she whispered, somewhat hoping he couldn't hear her, somewhat hoping he did.

"Me either," he said. He pulled her up from her seated position on the bench and behind a few trees in the park. He grabbed her face toward his and kissed her with all of his might.

She deepened the kiss and grabbed his hair, hoping he got the message that she wasn't interested in ending what they had. He pushed her against the trunk of the tree and planted soft kisses on her neck. He brushed some stray tresses of hair from her face and stroked her cheek. "I am so sorry for all the shit I've put you through," he said.

"It wasn't just you," she replied and leaned in to plant another kiss on his lips. They remained like that for awhile, just kissing and apologizing to each other. For what, they didn't really say, but they knew at that moment that they were embarking on an affair. The kind that one sees in the paper, or on movies. The kind that in their case, could end an impending marriage, a fledging relationship, longtime friendships, and any chance of them ever being less than what they were at that moment.

* * *

><p>AN-sorry I haven't updated in forever! I'm off from school now, so I should be able to update A LOT! This chapter was my favorite so far….I hope I haven't made Finn too much of a douche—he needs to be redeemed somewhat, I realize.

I'm trying to make their relationship seem a little more two-sided than in the book. Rachel somewhat annoyed me at parts in the book, and I really am trying to make this Rachel not like that. Plus, it seemed like she was chasing after Dex the whole time and I really want some Finn chasing Rachel stuff in this fic….I hope this chapter made up for all the time I haven't updated…I just finished up one of my multi-chapter fics, so now I only have two…So updates should happen a lot…

I really hope I didn't like destroy Finchel in this chapter or anything….Review if you want me to make this M….

Reviews are love!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N-Thank you guys so much for the response to the last chapter! BTW I replaced the first chapter 5 with this one because I made a supremely stupid mistake and thank goodness to Michelia for pointing it out! IT was bad...Someone (anonymously of course) asked this in a review (I didn't know if they were being critical or not, so I thought I'd answer the questions anyway).

_Why was it wrong for Finn to sleep with his fiance? Wouldn't she be suspicious if he hadn't? And didn't Rachel just say that it was wrong for them to keep cheating? Why are they still cheating?_

I thought I made it clear that Rachel knew that she really had no right to be mad, but that she was jealous—jealousy isn't rational most of the time, so that's pretty much all I can do to answer number one. Quinn probably would have, but the point is that Finn slept with Quinn right after acting like he was so broken up about Rachel and Puck—douche move. I made it clear that Rachel knew that it was wrong, but cheating isn't all that rational. I don't condone cheating, but I try to see it from other perspectives before making my judgments—really trying to make no judgments at all. With Finn and Rachel, obviously they are attracted to one another more than physically, so while they cheating isn't good, it's the whole point of this story, so THAT is why they are still cheating.

Ok, sorry just had to address that odd review...I thought that I stressed that this story would be about Finn and Rachel continuously and knowingly cheating, so readers, if you don't like that (or understand it?) I'd stop reading now.

I'm going to try (TRY) to start from now on replying to reviews that I can…I previously said I would, but then I just got too busy and forgot. Now I'm really going to try…Thanks again for all of your favs/alerts/reviews! I really appreciate them!

P.S. it's around May-ish in the story. The wedding will be in fall…The actual date will be revealed in this chapter… This story also takes place in present time, so they all are just older and have lived longer…Also in this story, Rachel's birthday was around the same time as in the book, not December 18 like in the show…Just thought I'd mention that…

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or Something Borrowed.

* * *

><p>Rachel finally was about to get her major break.<p>

After the angst-filled confrontation with Finn at the Hamptons two weeks ago, she had decided to throw herself completely in her job and auditions. She didn't know if it was because she was finding reasons to not see Finn whenever he called, or if the sudden revelation that Quinn didn't think she could make it on Broadway anymore, made her start vigorously auditioning again, almost to the point where it was like she was back in college.

She used to audition all the time. Not just for Broadway plays, but for off Broadway plays and off off Broadway plays—the works. She was in a bunch of off Broadway shows for a while, until she realized that singing for a community theater or for a recreation center wasn't what she wanted out of life. She once was considered for the chorus in _West Side Story_, but by the time they made their decision, the show was already soon to be over so it made no sense for her to do it.

She'd always thought she wanted to be a performer. Then she realized she wanted to be a performer on Broadway, and nowhere else.

So, she started auditioning again, fitting it in with her hectic record company job. She found it was a great way to avoid three scary people in her life right now: Finn, Quinn, and her still-quasi boyfriend Puck.

And she finally got a callback. The thing with this time though, was that she wasn't rejected immediately, no she was asked back the next day, and then the next, and then again. Finally, they told her she was going to be in the final audition stage with a few other hopeful women. And this little audition she had landed just happened to be for _Wicked_! She was being considered as the role of Elphaba! She'd always loved this musical, and now she might even get to be one of the leading roles in it.

She didn't know why the first person she called to share the good news was Finn, she really didn't.

"Wow Rachel, that's incredible!" Finn boomed, his voice sincere, "I'm so happy for you, this is like what you've wanted forever!"

"Thanks, I just, ugh, I'm so close that I can feel it!" she sighed, "I'm just so nervous! I audition with some of the other cast members tomorrow, and what if," she paused, "I suck, or they don't like me. Most people don't really enjoy my abrasive personality."

"Rach," he said with seriousness, "You're amazing, I don't see why anyone wouldn't like you."

"No I'm not! I'm loud and obnoxious and annoying and rude," she complained, "And my nose is huge…"

"Rachel, you're not any of those things. I love how loud you get whenever you're excited about something or happy for someone else. I love how your nose isn't super small—it's unique like you. Rachel, you're probably the most honest and nicest person I've ever met, so they have to like you," he said in a rush.

She gaped, and tried not to let Finn hear her hitch in her breathing from over the phone, "Uh, um, thank you Finn, uh," she paused trying to stop herself from saying what she was about to say, "do you want to maybe, um…"

"I'll be over in 10," he said, than added, "I'm really proud of you Rachel."

So, yes, she did not know what possessed her to invite him over. Nor did she know why she immediately wrapped her hands around his waist and bring him closer to her as he entered her apartment.

And she tried to think that she didn't know why she encouraged him as he kissed her passionately with a moan in response. She hoped that at one point she remembered that he was her best friend's fiancé when she ran her hands through his hair and let him suck on her neck. Or when he started unbuttoning her blouse. Or when they had sex on her couch, then in her kitchen, and then in her bedroom.

She realized that she didn't remember that little fact until they were cuddled on the bed, him sleeping, and her wondering what lie he told Quinn to get out of the house/apartment that night. She forced herself to forget about that, and just concentrate on the man beside her.

Rachel figured that was easier than thinking about it, then stressing about it, and then ending whatever relationship she had with him. Relationship=a term she loosed lightly.

* * *

><p>Finn's eyes slipped open. He felt Rachel's body squirm next to him and smiled slightly. The brunette had been a close friend for a long time, and now they were even closer.<p>

He paled. A close friend of his—and Quinn. Quinn, his sexy, power hungry fiancé who was currently at home, probably working on their impending wedding. Quinn, who was his fiancé who he had just cheated on again—fuck.

He had temporarily forgotten about her in his Rachel daze. He didn't understand what they were doing. All he knew was that he always thought about her, and that whenever he was with her, he felt happy, complete even. When he wasn't with her, all he thought about was figuring out a way to get with her.

So he had no idea what they were doing, but in the back of his mind, he knew that he didn't want to stop, and that there were inevitable consequences to follow.

He tenderly kissed her temple and quickly got dressed to leave. He went to the bathroom real quick, to fix his hair and wash his face a bit. He smelled himself, halfway relishing that Rachel's perfume still lingered on him, partly nervous that Quinn would smell her best friend on him. He looked in the mirror, only to be flooded with guilt at the thought of what just transpired between him and Rachel.

Guilt for Quinn.

Guilt for Rachel.

He didn't know which feeling was worse, but he decided that that probably wasn't an issue he should go exploring now. He knew Quinn was oblivious to what was happening between him and Rachel so he felt awful for hurting her behind her back. But then there was Rachel, who knew that he was still going to marry Quinn and eventually start a family with her, so he was hurting her too her face. He didn't know which one was worse. He figured he'd most likely get a different answer depending on the person he asked.

Finn quietly left the bathroom, and tiptoed out of Rachel's apartment. It was ironic really—he went from sneaking out of his own home with Quinn to see Rachel, and now he was sneaking out of Rachel's apartment to get back home to Quinn. He'd always hated irony himself.

He got on the subway, heading for his apartment right on the cusp of Manhattan and Brooklyn. He and Quinn weren't rich by any means, they just had a nicer apartment than Rachel, whom although not poor either, didn't really want to invest largely in a small apartment meant for one person when she hoped that she would eventually be with someone in something nicer. (That's almost exactly what she told him when he asked her about the place when she moved in fresh out of graduation.)

When he got home, he was greeted by Quinn fuming while yelling into the telephone.

"Listen here, I said I wanted purple orchids at the reception!" her expression darkened as she saw Finn enter the apartment, "BECAUSE the colors are lilac and light pink! Look, you realize that the Grand Ballroom at the Plaza isn't just some cheap venue, right! RIGHT? So, Stefani, you see, I cannot have cheap lilies at my wedding because that just WILL NOT do! OK? Ok, goodbye."

Fun fact: Quinn's grandparents were incredibly wealthy—lived in a super huge mansion in Lima, and then had 2 houses in upstate New York and Florida. So that's how he and Quinn are going to have a big-ass wedding at St. Peter's Cathedral (Quinn's family is super super Catholic) and a reception at the Plaza. So far, Quinn had invited at least 400 to the ceremony and 500 or more to the reception. Finn was kind of pissed because he barely knew most of the people, but what could he do?

"Finn," Quinn sighed, "Next time I have to call the florist, I would really appreciate if you would stay with me for moral support. What would Sports Illustrated need you for at night anyway?"

Another fun fact: Finn's now a journalist for _Sports Illustrated_.

"They just needed me to fix a few mistakes in the interview with Jason Terry," Finn stammered. He hoped she'd believe him, or at least be so pissed about something with the wedding to notice.

"Whatever. The real problem is, is that we haven't sent out our save-the-dates yet, and it's five and a half months until the wedding!" Quinn snapped.

"Well, um, doesn't the wedding planner do that?" Finn scratched his head, wondering how that was his fault.

"She is all set to, except for the fact that you haven't OKed the guest list. I said I personally was fine without you seeing it, but she said that she likes for both the bride and groom to see the list before anything is finalized," Quinn groaned, "Plus, Grandma and Grandpa want me to secure a certain price for the number of guests. They don't mind how much, really, as long as some of the guest slots are filled to their approval. I already got theirs, and you gave me yours, I just need you to make sure of it."

She handed him a few pages with hundreds of names he didn't recognize. He made sure all the family he wanted at the wedding was there (his mom Carole, his stepdad Burt, his cousins, his aunts/uncles). All his friends that he wanted on there were there too, so that was good (including Kurt who was also his stepbrother—that's how Blaine and Kurt met, Rachel introduced her friend Blaine to Finn's stepbrother and it went from there). "Yeah it looks all good to me," he said.

"Good. Now, I'll get Sherry on that ASAP," Quinn left the room without a glance at Finn as she dialed the wedding planner's number.

Finn went to go take a shower, and when he returned, he saw Quinn already asleep on their bed. He dutifully got in next to her, and grabbed her waist, ignoring the nagging voice in his head that told him she wasn't the one he wanted sleeping next to him.

He sighed and tried to sleep, with his blond fiancé and her brunette best friend on his mind.

* * *

><p>Two days later, Rachel received the news of her life.<p>

She had gotten the role of Elphaba.

She jumped for a total of 5 minutes and 30 seconds in her office before calling Quinn (she refused to call Finn this time—she felt to awful about what happened the last time) to share the good news.

"Quinn! Quinn! I got the role!" Rachel yelped.

"Rachel! That's awesome! You're going to be the green witch thing onstage now! That's the role you've been wanting!" Quinn smiled at her friend's excitement.

"I know, it's just, I'm so happy!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Let's go celebrate. Meet me at that bistro we love like now!" Quinn gathered the stuff from her office and hung up the phone.

Rachel told her boss she was going on a lunch break and went to go meet Quinn.

She saw her almost immediately sitting at a little table and went to go join her. "Quinn!"

"Rach! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!" Quinn laughed, hugging her friend.

"You went with me to my audition yesterday," Rachel laughed.

"I know, but I just, I think that planning the wedding is just making me feel so withdrawn from the world," Quinn sighed.

The wedding, of course.

"Oh, um, well that's expected probably with a big event," Rachel said, irritated to be talking about that damn thing again.

"Yeah, the damn florist is an idiot! And my mother just has to invite her old friends from college—like any of them care about her by now. Seriously! And Finn still won't finalize his groomsmen. So far it's Puck as best man, Kurt, Blaine, Mike Chang who's a friend from high school, and Artie Abrams, some nerd in the tech support part of Sports Illustrated. He might add more though, I don't know. I have you, San, Brittany, and I'm probably going to tack on my friend Tina from work, and also I guess my older cousin Holly so it's equal."

"Well that's cool. Have you officially picked the other girls' dresses yet?" Rachel forced herself to ask.

"Yes, actually, I changed yours again! I picked different colors for the whole wedding. Remember how it was originally red and dark-ish pink? Well, I now chose light pink and lilac-ish. So, your dress is light pink with a lilac bow tied at your waist. The others are going to have lilac dresses with pink bows. I still don't know what to do about the tuxes!" Quinn stabbed at her salad as she vented.

So much for celebrating Rachel.

"Oh, that's great. I love those colors," Rachel gulped.

"Yeah, so it's just so stressful and I always have to fix something someone has messed up," Quinn ran her non-fork occupied hand and ran it through her hair, "Do you think I should get a major haircut before the wedding?"

"Major? As in short? Or bangs? I say don't get something major. Obviously you're still going to get it done, but maybe fix up your layers a bit I guess," Rachel said, poking around at her salad—she had lost her appetite when the wedding talk intensified.

"Ugh this wedding is going to give me wrinkles before I'm 35, I swear! Let's stop talking about it."

"Great, so I called the casting director today and—" Rachel started, but was interrupted by Quinn.

"What's your stance on cheating?" Quinn looked at Rachel with an indifferent expression.

Rachel paled instantly, and forced herself to speak coherent words, "Uh, uh, uh I don't um, approve of it? Look Quinn, I'm so—"

"Calm down, Rach. I'm just asking. I was just thinking about something the other day. Is thinking about someone else in a sexual scenario with you while you're in another relationship cheating?" Quinn pressed.

Rachel inwardly let out a sigh a relief. So Quinn didn't know about her and Finn. Crap, she'd almost gone and told her she was sorry for something Quinn was oblivious to. "Are these hypothetical questions, or from real life experience?" Rachel chuckled nervously.

"Hypothetical of course," Quinn stammered. For a split second, Rachel thought she might have been nervous, but that couldn't be true—Quinn never faltered, never got nervous, about anything.

"Oh, um, ok," Rachel handed her card to the waiter as Quinn did the same. They made a promise back in high school to never fight about paying the bill when they did anything together. If they were together celebrating Quinn, Rachel would pay, and vice versa. However, if they were just out to lunch or dinner for fun, they would split it. Rachel assumed that Quinn forgot that they were supposed to be celebrating her. Until this happened.

"Wait, excuse me, give my friend her card back, we were here celebrating her today," Quinn smiled.

Rachel tried to protest, only to be snapped at by Quinn to shut up and enjoy her freeloading self. She realized that this was one of the times that she loved being Quinn's friend.

She also realized that when she was with Finn, it was one of the times she didn't.

After a long day at work where Rachel debated quitting right there and then, she quickly caught a taxi home and looked forward to a night of rest, relaxation, and maybe some Chinese takeout. She found that all thoughts of her lazy night were crushed when she checked her mail and found a little pink envelope in her mailbox. She laughed at first, thinking it was Kurt, who always mailed her letters for some reason, until she saw a little label on the front of the envelope.

Finn and soon-to-be Quinn Hudson

She cringed. She opened the envelope, only to see a little green letter tucked neatly inside.

_Save the date!_

_September 30th, 2011_

_The "Inns" are getting married_

_And they want you there too_

_So come and watch _

_As two lovebirds say "I do." _

She gagged and rushed up to her apartment. She immediately started sobbing right after she shut the door behind her. She didn't know how long she stayed there, on the floor, crying about an adorably stupid note that solidified the impending marriage of her best friend and current "affair mate" (is that even a good term for it?).

Eventually, Rachel forced herself up from her state of misery and onto her couch. A couch she had just recently had sex on with the man in the stupid photo on the save the date she had just received. That started the waterworks again.

She got some ice cream (she's a cliché and she knows it) and sat on her lonely bed. She turned on the news and sat down and cried. She didn't know why, but whenever she was said, she'd turn on CNN, and for some reason, that made her feel better (it was weird, yes she knew—not a cliché for once).

As she watched as Anderson Cooper went on about some crisis she wasn't really paying attention too, she let herself cry and cry.

Figures the day she got the biggest news of her life would be the day she received a heartbreaking letter.

That's just karma working against her yet again.

* * *

><p>Finn tiredly walked into work the next day. He thanked God that he had been promoted to editor a few months ago because it meant he had his own office—he'd need a little time to nap during work today.<p>

He started looking over a few articles that had to be checked when Puck walked in. This was usual, Puck normally came in when he was supposed to be doing work. He acted like he was "conversing with a fellow editor" but really he just came in to drink beer from Finn's fridge and torture Finn's assistant Drew.

"Hey man, what's up?" Finn asked as Puck slumped down on one of the chairs by Finn's desk.

"Nothing really, just annoyed that we're in the office when it's a perfect 95 degree day today. I mean seriously, I could be down at the beach watching girls get their bikini on, and instead I'm stuck here where the women are all either old or wrestling champions," Puck sighed.

Finn tried not be obviously ecstatic that Puck said girls and not Rachel, "You didn't mind the women during your fling with Lauren Zizes."

"Fuck don't remind me dude, that woman was psychotic," Puck said, "And she almost killed my ma when she told her to her face that she'd rather me be with a 'nice Jewish girl.'"

"Yeah not the best girl to bring home to your mother for Chanukah," Finn laughed.

"And now that I dumped her she almost always shoves me if we're on the same elevator," Puck rolled his eyes.

"Please, she dumped you!" Finn scoffed.

"Hell naw, I totally did." When Finn looked at him uncertainly he added, "Fine she did, but I was about too."

"So anyways, Quinn's up my ass about the wedding, and she has some meeting with a client in South Carolina, so I need a night out tonight. How about we go to Billy's?"

Puck's face flashed at the mention of Quinn's name for some reason. "Maybe you shouldn't be so hard on her about the wedding; I mean she's doing it for you too."

"Seriously? It doesn't seem like it sometimes," Finn said quietly.

"You should be lucky you nailed a super-hot normal woman in NYC," Puck muttered.

"Whatever dude, so are you free tonight?" Finn asked.

"Actually I have a date with another super-hot normal girl tonight," Puck smirked.

"Who?" Finn asked.

"Rachel, duh," Puck replied.

Finn's heart dropped and he felt like he had just been punched in the gut. "So are you two like exclusive now or something?"

"I don't even know. Like, I wouldn't mind it, but unlike most women I go out with more than once, she isn't like on my ass about it. Normally I look at a woman and she's begging for me to like move in with her right away and shit. She hasn't even asked, but I know she's into me."

"How do you know?" Finn tried not to ask, but he sort of had to know.

"Well she's so responsive when we make out and during the sex and stuff. She makes the most awesome sounds, like I've ever heard. She's just so hot, and I'm hot, so I'm pretty positive she wants this," Puck laughed pointing to himself.

Finn cringed. He knew the sounds she made. He knew how responsive he was. And he loved, wait no, he liked, them. He couldn't go throwing around the l-word when it came to Rachel, he couldn't even think about that word and her at the same time.

He was worried what he might discover.

"Maybe she just likes you physically," Finn almost puked as he said it, but he was sick of Puck's cockiness.

"Please, sometimes we just talk and it's pretty cool. Like, I like the physical stuff the best, but the talking is awesome too—surprisingly," Puck said.

"Cool?" Finn replied.

Puck exhaled and shrugged, "But do you really want to hear about my totally hot smoking single-ish life when you're about to get married? Dude, that's like being chained by your balls for the rest of your life."

Finn's scowl deepened as he heard Puck go on about Rachel. "Whatever, don't you have work to do or something?

"Someone hasn't gotten laid in forever. Fine, be pissy," Puck laughed as he sauntered out of Finn's office.

'Actually I did just get laid with the woman who supposedly is hot for you, asshole,' Finn thought to himself. Then he felt guilty, like he was using Rachel as a way to get back at Puck. He knew it wasn't like that, but still, he didn't like disrespecting her in any way, even in his head.

* * *

><p>Right after his talk with Puck, he decided to call Rachel—just to check on her and see how her day was and stuff, just like any friend would do, you know?<p>

* * *

><p>"Hello, Finn, how may I assist you?" Rachel cautiously answered when she saw Finn's name flash on her phone. He hadn't called or texted at all after they, you know, had sex, and even though it was irrational (she knew very well it was irrational and incredibly unnecessary, thank you very much) , she was somewhat annoyed with him. He just left her after they shared something she thought was special. Then again, he did have a fiancé that happened to be her best friend waiting at home for him, so she figured he sort of had to leave. Plus, they really shouldn't have "shared something special" when he was engaged to her best friend.<p>

"Uh, hi Rach, I just wanted to see how your day was?" he replied, wondering why in hell he thought it'd be a good idea to call her.

"It's fine, thank you for being kind enough to ask," she snapped, her tone icy. Crap, he knew she'd probably be pissed at him, but he didn't want to leave her when she was awake—he didn't know if he would have enough willpower to leave her if she were awake.

"Look, I know our _thing_ we have going on is fucked up, but I had to leave you know that," Finn sighed, scratching his head.

"Whatever. Why did you call?" Rachel asked, tired. She was just in a bad mood and blame it on the fact that her new agent was riding her about quitting her present job or that she was involved in a heavily emotional affair, but she didn't want to talk to anyone at that moment.

"Just, um, have fun on your date with Puck tonight," Finn replied through clenched teeth.

"Date?" Rachel asked. She had no date tonight. In fact, Puck really hadn't called her in a few days. They had only gone out once since the Hamptons' trip.

"Yeah he told me you two have a date tonight," Finn said, confused.

"I don't have a date with Noah tonight," Rachel said, "We've only gone out once since the Hamptons' trip."

"Huh. He told me you guys have a date tonight. Maybe he'll call you, but he made it seem like it was set in stone," Finn exclaimed.

"Well, I'll tell you if we do, I guess?" Rachel said, "Anyways, I have to go, goodbye Finn."

"Wait!" Finn said, wondering what he was doing, "Quinn's in South Carolina tonight, do you maybe come over or something?"

Rachel paused and felt her heart flutter in a way that only Finn Hudson had managed to cause, "Um, s-sure, I do have to talk to you about some wedding stuff anyways."

And with that, she just knows that she's become one of those women. The kind of woman who just waits for the day that the man she's willingly entered an affair with initiates some sort of meeting because his girlfriend or wife is out of town.

Surprisingly, she doesn't care to much about that fact.

* * *

><p>AN-so I'm going to start trying to make each chapter a lot longer, but this one had a lot of events happening. Why did Puck lie? What's he doing "tonight"? What "client" is Quinn meeting with in South Carolina? And what and Rachel and Finn doing…..?Sorry, just had to provide those questions. I never do that, but I thought it might be fun.

I personally loved writing in Finn's prespective…Rachel's been the only one who's shown emotions, so it's fun to see Finn's, I think!

Please review! Next chapter might be awhile because I'm going to be at camp…

THANKS FOR READING!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hi guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a long time. I've had camps and swim, so I've been super busy and tired! If any of you guys read "Unforget You" (although you might not because it's Puckleberry), I am so sorry I haven't updated it in forever. I've lost inspiration for it, so I might put it on hiatus (which I really don't want to do). I have some other Finchel and Puckleberry fic ideas, so I might decide to publish those...Who knows? If anyone has a story idea they really don't want to write, you can PM me it and maybe I'll write it. I might start contest things where if you answer something right, I'll write you a one shot with idea/pairing of your choice. I did that on my old Clique one once and it was fun! Also, you might have noticed that I changed the name of my story. Someone else started writing a SB fic/Glee right after mine with the same concept/tite, so I decided it'd be better to change it! Ok, here it goes!

This chapter has like one borderline M-ish line/part...It's not a scene or anything, just one little part. I'm just paranoid so I thought I should let y'all know.

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or SB...

Chapter 6-"Players Only Love You When They're Playing"

Rachel quickly rushed out of the home, eager to get to Finn—and Quinn's—apartment. She found it odd that Quinn didn't tell her about her trip to South Carolina, and deep inside she knew there had to be something else going on. But why would Quinn lie? She hadn't been acting strange. She'd actually been happier than usual. Wait, but didn't Quinn ask that weird question about cheating when they were at lunch? And then she'd gotten all nervous when Rachel asked her about it. Rachel couldn't think of an explanation, so she shrugged it off as Quinn missing her single life. She didn't think Quinn would cheat, but then again she never thought that she, herself, would ever be the other woman. She had to stop thinking this kind of stuff. In fact, she should probably stop thinking about Quinn all together seeing as she was about to go to Finn.

She shook her head and told the cab driver where to go.

As she approached Finn and Quinn's apartment she put her sunglasses on, hoping that she didn't see anyone she knew. The doorman let Rachel in and she went on up to Finn/Quinn's apartment.

She knocked and he opened the door with that adorable little dimpled smile that he almost always wore. She noticed he had an old NYU shirt that was a little big on him due to the fact that he bought it freshmen year during his "freshmen 15" (more like 45) weight gain. The pizza place was directly across from his dorm, and he had a little too much fun going to eat pizza whenever he wanted. He had lost the weight since then...

"Hey Miss Elphaba," Finn greeted.

Rachel blushed, "Oh, um, she told you about it then."

"Well yeah," he scratched the back of his head, "Look, Rach, I'm sorry I left, it's just that Quinn was-"

Rachel cut him off with a deep, long kiss that made his toes curl. "It's fine, let's not talk about it, OK?"

"Are you s-sure?" he tried to ask, as she moved to unzip his pants.

"Finn," Rachel purred, "When a woman says she doesn't want to talk, it means you should probably stop talking."

He remained silent after that as she demonstrated just how useful her lack of gag reflex could be. (He only knew because she drunkenly told him back in college about it.)

They had sex again that night—for the first time ever at his (and QUINN's!) place. She tried not to dwell on the fact that he slept in that same bed with Quinn every night (unless he was with her or somewhere reporting some sporting event). She also tried to forget about the little save-the-date she had just received. Once that date came, would whatever she and Finn still had be going on? Did she want it to continue? Did she want him to leave Quinn? No, she couldn't ask him to do that, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep those questions "locked" in her head.

She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, clutching him as if she was holding on for dear life.

In a way, she sort of was.

… … … …

A few weeks had passed since Finn and Rachel's last "meeting" or "rendezvous" or whatever one might call it, and Finn was getting a little anxious.

Rachel hadn't called, texted, or emailed him at all. She was gone before he woke up. He supposed it was sort of like payback for when he left her.

Payback's a bitch.

It stung like hell when he woke up to find the other side of the bed empty. He missed her just being there and he didn't know what that meant. He felt awful realizing that he had inflicted this kind of pain on her and he really wanted to make a mental promise to himself to not do it again.

Key words: he really WANTED too. He knew he couldn't keep that promise because he knew there would be a time where he had to rush home to Quinn, his wife-to-be.

He didn't know what was going on with him and Rachel. He realized that once the wedding date drew closer, that things were going to get bad.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when his office phone rang.

"Hey baby," Quinn smiled on the other side of the phone.

He tried not to be let down that it was Quinn and not Rachel who called. "Hey Q, what's up?"

"Well, I just needed to make sure you're not working late tonight," Quinn said.

"Um, nope. Why?" Finn sighed. Crap. He'd probably have to do some lame ass wedding thing.

"A bunch of people are meeting up for happy hour at Woody's, and I said that we'd be there," Quinn sighed, "It'll probably just be like Rach, Kurt, Blaine, Mercedes, her sham of a boyfriend—Sam, and oh, you could invite Puck."

"Sure, why not?" Finn said with fake enthusiasm. He cringed at the thought of being forced to watch the Rachel and Puck (or "Noah" as she called him) show for an entire night.

"Great," Quinn seemed a little more excited at the thought that Puck might be joining (he didn't question why), "Text me on your way home hot stuff, kay?"

"Kay," Finn said.

"Love you."

"Love you too, Quinn."

He continued with the rest of his day, surprised and pissed that his day went by faster than usual. Eventually he made his way home and was greeted with a quick peck on the cheek from Quinn and a demand that he had to take a shower immediately in order for them to be "fashionably, but not rudely late" as his soon-to-be-wife said.

After he had showered, cleaned up a bit, and got dressed, and Quinn headed for the bar. They walked side-by-side and Finn was a little surprised (but not at all to unhappy about it) that Quinn didn't hold his hand. She was big on PDA. He wasn't a big fan of it, but agreed to keep her happy. He did cross the line had a public hand-job though...(She had tried in a movie theater once.)

He stopped himself from sighing in relief when he saw Rachel. He had been a little—OK really—worried about her. He was stopped short from waving when he noticed she was sitting at the bar with Puck, laughing at something his coworker had just said.

'Calm down, Finn,' he thought, 'One, there's nothing going on between Puck and Rachel—she told you remember. Two, you can't be jealous, you're engaged for crying out loud and you aren't even in a relationship with her.'

He didn't calm down a bit. Rachel waved at Finn and Quinn as she normally would. Finn looked at his fiancé and was shocked when Quinn's wave wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as usual. She kind of looked pissed.

"Hi guys," Rachel smiled warmly, sending tingles down Finn's spine, "Glad you could join us."

"Us? So what, you and Puck are an 'us' now!" Quinn snapped.

Finn was confused by Quinn's behavior, but tossed it aside due to the fact that she was probably just at that time of the month. She hadn't been trying to seduce him lately, so it was probably that anyway.

"Uh, I meant the group...So anyway, Noah was just talking about your save-the-date! It was so cute, very clever Q," Rachel said. She was trying to act like nothing was wrong, Finn could tell. He would find it kind of cute if he didn't find it so damn infuriating that she was pretty much acting totally dismissive toward him.

"Yeah, the wedding planner came up with it," Quinn said, her mood lightening a little due to the wedding talk, "I mean, our names do rhyme so she kind of had to use that..."

"Well I for one liked it, even though it was totally cheesy. It just sort of reiterated the fact that Hudson's handing over his balls, which is good 'cos that's marriage in a nutshell," Puck laughed.

Quinn started laughing, practically snorting at Puck's joke. Rachel and Finn tried not to gag.

"Oh, look, Mercedes is here with Sam. And oh, Kurt and Blaine just got here. Well, if you guys excuse me, I'm going to go talk to them about um, wedding party stuff," Rachel lied. Coming up with an excuse to get out of there.

"You know, I actually have to ask Kurt about my suit, so I'll go with," Finn stated.

Puck and Quinn continued talking, oblivious to there significant others leaving.

Finn gently tugged at Rachel's arm, leading her toward the outside of the bar.

"Finn, is there are reason you have decided to drag me outside on this hot night?" Rachel sighed.

"Look, Rach, why haven't you called me or anything at all?" Finn asked.

She ignored his puppy face and focused on staying strong. "What ever are you talking about?"

"Rachel! Look, I can't deal without seeing or talking to you at all. It's killing me. God, I love you," Finn yelled. He looked down at his feet when he realized what he had admitted.

"Y-You love me?" Rachel said, tears building in her eyes.

"Of course I do!" he yelled, trying to get the point across to her. He knew that he shouldn't be telling her this, but he could never stop himself from pouring his heart out to her.

"Fuck it," he said, and leaned down to give her a deep, lingering kiss. She moaned into the kiss, opening her mouth to allow him more access. He realized that they were outside for the world to see, but for some reason, that made it seem even more right.

He kissed her with more passion, pushing her against the wall, when he heard a shrill voice that stopped both of them immediately.

"Oh my Gucci," Kurt froze as he saw the embracing "couple."

"Kurt!" Rachel wailed, flinging herself from Finn's arms.

"Look, it isn't what it looks like! Um, we were happy about the save-the-date and we kissed. A friendly kiss, I just, uh, don't tell Quinn. She's possessive you know, even with platonic kisses!" Rachel frantically rambled.

"Save it, Miss Rachel Barbra Berry. You're my best friend and all, and an amazing beyond amazing actress, but you're a terrible liar. I won't tell Quinn, as long as you promise to let me and Blaine sleep over tonight so you can give us all the details so we can lecture you about it," Kurt said, and with a peck on the cheek to Rachel and a wave at Finn, he went back inside.

Finn looked at Rachel with deeply hooded eyes, obviously still aroused by their kiss, but also scared about the implications of one (and soon two) people knowing of their tryst. "Rach, I am so sorry," he said.

"Finn, it's fine, we'll talk later, OK? Just, call me tomorrow, I have to go deal with Kurt and Blaine," she grimly smiled. She pecked him on the lips and walked back inside

He touched his lips and felt the electricity from her kiss still ringing throughout his body. He leaned against the wall, just thinking about nothing really. He heard Quinn's laugh from outside and took that as his que to go back inside.

"Finny!" Quinn drunkenly slurred, "Puck rhymes with 'fuck!'"

Puck shot him a sorry, but somewhat protective look and Finn quietly led her toward their cab. They went home and he made himself not turn back and look at Rachel's face.

He didn't want to think about what he could have been doing at that moment instead.

… … … … …

A/N-OK that's done...It was a very short chapter, but it'll get juicer as the wedding approaches...It's late June now, so we have a little bit. I have a great scene already written between Finn and Rachel...Ok, please review if you liked/hated it! :)


	7. Chapter 7

A/N-sorry I haven't updated in forever! I just started high school like 3 and ½ weeks ago (FRESHMAN AHHHHHH), and I also started high school swim. It's been pretty busy, and updates will most likely be super sporadic since I have two practices a day and meets once or twice a week until November. Not to mention school work and Glee episodes. I will try to update as much as possible and I hope to have this story ended soon. I have an idea for a sequel, but it won't be like _Something Blue_, which I'm sure most of you know is the sequel to the book _Something Borrowed_. The rest of this story will be sort of like the book with the main concept, but I will add some other things that I hope make the Finchel situation way less just sleeping around and more of the angsty love story stuff that I love! Also, did you guys like the Finn POV...I sort of love it because I am in love with Finn Hudson (specifically Cory Monteith, but I'm also in love with Finn...) Is everyone excited about Damian a.k.a. Rory being an exchange student living with Brittany! I KNOW I AM SEEING AS DAMIAN IS THE PERSON ON TGP I HAVE BEEN ROOTING FOR FOREVER! And I love the guy! OK, on with the chapter...P.S. I changed the title due to popular demand...Chapter title from "King of Anything..."

P.S. It is now late June in this story! July 4th will be coming up soon, and it will be a big event...sort of like the movie, but I'm going to add my own spin on it.

Chapter 7- "Who Made you King of Anything?"

* * *

><p>Rachel sighed as she unlocked the door to her apartment and let Blaine and Kurt in, both happily holding their overnight bags. "What do you want to know?" she said as she flipped on the lights and flopped on her couch.<p>

"Um everything!" Kurt squealed.

"I just want to know what's going on," Blaine said with slight protectiveness, "I don't want you to get hurt and this, this Rachel is a relationship that will get you hurt in the end, for sure."

"Oh Blaine, don't be such a downer!" Kurt swooned, "I mean, think about it, Finn and Rachel, a.k.a. Finchel, have loved each other forever! Or, at least since college. Anyway, once the evil Ice Queen got her hands on my poor poor stepbrother, he was forced to push aside his deep feelings for Babs here. He then was stuck in a relationship that he didn't really want to be in. Now he finally has a chance to be with the one he wants!"

"Kurt, it's not that simple! Although everyone wishes their life could be a fairytale, that just doesn't happen! Finn and Quinn are getting married! Rachel and Finn are cheating. As much as I think that Finn and Quinn are about to make an awful legally binding decision, it still is morally wrong for them to stray from their relationship!" Blaine replied, frustrated.

"Awhhhh, I love your deep passion for commitment," Kurt said, moving closer to Blaine.

"Really, well I love your idealistic view of love," Blaine smirked, cupping Kurt's cheek.

"Well, I love when you use big words like that," Kurt sighed and pressed his lips to Blaine's.

The couple started to kiss more forcefully, and Rachel quickly put a stop to the almost make-out, "Um hello, guys, I am right here and I thought this was supposed to be about my love life, not about your sexual energy."

"Right, sorry Rachel," Blaine pulled away from Kurt, blushing.

"Oh please, like you can talk Rachel! You and Finn were practically having sex in the middle of New York City," Kurt smiled.

"We were not making love in the middle of New York City! I'm not that cruel. Oh goodness, I'm an awful person. I need to stop this. I just, thank God I didn't tell Finn I loved him back or else this mess would be even bigger than it already was. I just need to stop whatever Finn and me are doing." She put her head in her hands and started to cry.

Kurt sat on the couch next to Rachel, as he put a hand on her back he said, "Sweetie, it's OK to be confused about what's right and what's wrong. And wait a second, did you say he told you he loved you? .GaGa! This is more intense than I thought. Blaine, do we have to call Mercedes for reinforcements?"

"No!" Rachel stood up, "No, you guys promised not to tell anyone! You can't. If this gets out, it would destroy Quinn."

"Mercedes isn't anyone Rachel, she's one of your best friends," Kurt stated.

"Look, Rachel is right. We can't risk telling anyone about this. It would crush Quinn, not to mention, she would crush Rachel," Blaine cautioned, "Let's just talk this out, just the three of us, OK? I'll make some hot chocolate and you and Kurt can pop in _Funny Girl_. That always calms you down."

"Fine, but you have to promise that you and Kurt won't sing 'You are Woman, I am Man.' Everyone knows how in love you guys are, you don't have to rub it in my face," Rachel frowned.

"That has never happened!" Kurt protested.

"Um remember my birthday last year? And Kurt's birthday the year before that? And what about Mercedes' Halloween party a few years ago? We watched it and you two started singing it, only to be kicked out of the party," Rachel laughed.

"Whatever, you're all just jealous of what we have," Kurt curtly replied.

"Exactly, that's why no one wants to witness your lovey-dovey-ness," Rachel said, "Now put in the best musical of all time and shut up!"

They didn't talk about the Finn/Rachel/Quinn situation for the rest of the movie. Rachel allowed herself to forget about everything in her life and be fully immersed in Fanny and Nick's love story. Kurt and Blaine played footsie and forced themselves not to sing together.

"So Rachel, enough is enough, we need to talk about this," Blaine said once the movie was over.

"What is there to talk about? Finn and I are having an affair that could potentially ruin a marriage and a friendship. In addition to that fact, I may or may not be in a relationship with the best man of the wedding that I may or may not be the cause of ruining," Rachel snapped, "And to make it even harder, I think I'm in love with Finn, wait no, I know I am in love with Finn."

Kurt and Blaine simultaneously gasped. "You love him?" Blaine pressed.

"Of course I love him. Why else would I be sleeping with him? That's the problem. I can't just be the girl who has an affair with her best friend's fiance, I have to be the girl who falls in love the her best friend's fiance. So that makes me a whore and an idiot. He'll never leave Quinn, no matter how much he says he loves me. Who would pick me over Quinn? Plus, he loves Quinn too, even if you guys don't believe that. They'll get married, have perfect kids, and I'll be the fun aunt or godmother who buys them lots of toys because I don't have kids of my own."

"Rachel, who wouldn't pick you over Quinn? You're amazing, smart, talented, kind, and not to mention beautiful," Blaine smiled, "And even if you don't end up with Finn, you'll meet someone who loves you and cares about you and would pick you over anyone in the world—except your children of course."

"Rachel, if I could find someone, you can find someone," Kurt said and gave her a hug.

"I just don't know what to do. Should I end things or ask him where we are going? Or let things keep going as they are?" Rachel asked.

"Definitely no to letting things just stay the same. You and Finn, whatever you guys are, really need to talk about what's going on between you two," Blaine said, "He obviously loves you, but is that enough? I just don't want him taking advantage of you. In the end, I don't want you to get hurt, even a little bit. Part of me thinks that if you end it now, it would save some pain in the end. But I also think that if you end it now, you might hurt more in the end, knowing that you missed your shot with him."

"When did you get so deep?" Rachel laughed with tears in her eyes.

"When I got with Kurt I guess," Blaine smiled as he held hands with his boyfriend.

"Look, Rachel, whatever you do, you need to figure out your feelings. You love Finn, he loves you, yes you've sorted that out, but what do you want out of this relationship with him? It's not just all about him, it's about you and your heart too," Kurt sighed, "And I think you should talk to him about it."

"B-but, I wouldn't even know what to say!" Rachel squeaked.

"Just say what you want to say, as stupid as that sounds," Blaine said.

"Can we just stop talking about this for right now?" Rachel asked as her phone started ringing.

"Oo is it Finn? Or is it Puck? Or Quinn? Oh, the intrigue!" Kurt laughed, his eyes as wide as saucers.

Rachel tried to stop her heart from insanely beating as she saw that she had a text from Finn.

_From Finn_

_Are you OK? Text me if you need anything. I meant what I said earlier. _

_FINN_

"Uh, it's just the director texting me about rehearsals starting in a week. Speaking of which, I am so nervous about quitting. The producers told me that they are giving me until the first rehearsal to quit, since I've already done the contract work and everything. I just don't want to leave the label on bad terms, you know?" Rachel said.

"No deflecting! One, I can see your phone from here and I know that Finn just texted you. Two, you know that the label won't get mad at you for quitting! They've always been so flexible with your hours so you could do auditions," Kurt smirked, "Now, what did Finny have to say?"

"That he meant what he said and he asked if I was OK," Rachel muttered.

"Awh, see Blaine, they belong together! And he's checking up on her!" Kurt squealed.

"I'm still not seeing how this is perfect, Kurt. I mean, he's checking up on her while he's with his wife-to-be," Blaine replied.

"Blaine's right," Rachel said, tears pooling in her eyes, "Look, you two can take my room if you want, I'll just sleep on the couch."

"Rachel," Blaine sighed.

"No, Blaine, I'm fine, just please, I really want to sleep," Rachel forced a smile.

Kurt and Blaine silently went to Rachel's bedroom. They felt awful about making her so upset, but they were nervous about the outcome of her affair with Finn. The couple went to bed, pretending to ignore the quiet sobs they heard from the living room.

* * *

><p>Finn groaned as Quinn barfed for the third time that morning. He held her hair back and rubbed her back as she heaved over and over again.<p>

"Finn! You need to stop letting me get drunk! Boyfriends are supposed to want to prevent their girlfriends from having any pain, and throwing up gives me pain. Obviously you don't care about me as much as you should," Quinn whined.

The thing about Quinn when she was hungover is that she was a real pain in the ass. She got super annoying and needy and always complained about everything. The worst part was that she would always feel sorry for herself when she was hungover, and then she'd pick fights with everyone she was around.

"Quinn, I'm sorry I didn't stop you from drinking a lot last night," Finn sighed, "But I'll call the firm and ask them if you can skip today. I mean, I know you missed some office time when you were in South Carolina, but I'm sure if I lie a bit about what you are doing today, I can make them let you."

Quinn's head suddenly whipped up from the toilet. "No, no don't call the firm. Don't call them about South Carolina, everything is alright. I'll just go work, OK? Just, don't call them."  
>Finn was confused, "Wait, why don't you want me to call the firm?"<p>

"The firm doesn't like others taking the responsibility for their employees. And why are you so suspicious?" Quinn snapped.

"I'm not, I just-" he was interrupted by Quinn.

"You were just being an idiot," she said. She stormed out of the bathroom and slammed the door to their bedroom.

He shook his head and got in the shower to get ready for work. Why didn't she want him to call her firm? And why was she suddenly pissed at him? She must just be stressed about the wedding. He figured he should probably be easier on her since she was practically planning the whole thing. Plus the fact that he had admitted his love for her best friend.

Why had he done that again?

Because it was true.

He had to face the fact that he loved Rachel a lot, probably way too much. He was starting to think that maybe he had loved her since they were in college. 'No,' he thought, 'You didn't. You did, and still do love Quinn. You're just confused because of the wedding.'

Finn knew that he had to stop whatever was going on between him and Rachel. He belonged with Quinn, not Rachel, even if his heart was telling him otherwise.

Once he was at work he decided that he needed to break things off with Rachel as soon as possible. Maybe he should see if she was free that night? He could tell Quinn that he had to meet with Rachel for some groom/maid of honor stuff and then they wouldn't have to meet privately—they could be in public! Then, nothing would happen! Not that he'd let something happen if they were in private, of course.

He figured he'd call her after lunch. He headed to Puck's office so they could eat together (shut up, they were best friends...).

"Hey," Finn said as he walked into Puck's office.

"Hey, you're friends with Rachel right?" Puck asked as Finn sat down.

Finn paled, "Um yeah, sort of, I mean yeah we are."

"Is she seeing someone?"

"No, no, no, no one," Finn stammered.

"Huh, it's just like, she doesn't even seem interested in me anymore. It's weird, like, has she seen my guns?" Puck said, confused.

Finn awkwardly punched him in the shoulder, "Ah they aren't that good Puck. Maybe you should just give up on her. I mean, aren't you getting sick of the commitment?"

"That's the problem, there isn't a commitment. It's like she's anti-commitment or something. She's never asked me to be her boyfriend. Once, I think she might have asked if we were exclusive, but like, I don't know, we still haven't defined the relationship. I've been loosely seeing this other girl I thought was awesome, but now she wants to know that she's the only one I'm sleeping with," Puck said, but his face suddenly paled as if he had said something wrong.

"Look if you don't know what you are with Rachel, why the hell do you think it's ok to be with someone else? If you hurt her..." Finn threatened.

"Whoa, calm down. Like, we haven't gone on a date in a while and we barely text anymore. I guess I'll go with the flow for a little bit, but then I'm just going to be frank with her and ask what we are doing," Puck sighed, "Shit, lunch is over. You need to get out of here before your stupid-ass assistant comes in here to check on you and tries to report me for slacking on the job."

"He's only done that twice," Finn laughed and left Puck's office. He was still frustrated. So Puck actually liked Rachel? Did she like him? She hadn't said that she loved him back, but still, he just kind of figured she that she did. She did, right? Right?

Whatever, he had to end it. Right as he got to his office, he called her.

She picked up on the second ring.

"Hey," Finn said.

"Hello Finn!" Rachel said brightly. She had decided that she was going to tell him how she felt. She wasn't just going to end things. Although Blaine had had a point, her heart won out in the end. She loved Finn and she wasn't going to stop what they were doing.

"Look, I can't talk that long, but I need to talk to you. Can you meet me at Forte at 6?" Finn asked.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Rachel replied. He was taking her out! On a date-esque thingy! She was so wrong to think that Finn wanted to end things! He was trying to send her the message that he was serious about what they were doing.

"Ok, well, bye," he said and dismissively hung up.

He felt awful about how he had acted on the phone, but he needed to act detached so he would succeed in ending their "relationship."

Later that night, after he had cleared the meeting with Quinn he went to the restaurant. He knew it wasn't going to be easy to break off the relationship when he saw Rachel happily sitting at a table.

She looked gorgeous with a short strapless red dress and her hair was down and curled. He couldn't look at her, or else he would never end what they had going. She flashed him her amazing mega watt smile that had made him like her so much in college and now made him want to go hide in the bathroom.

"I always get to places early, so I kind of already got us a table," Rachel smiled, "I love to be punctual."

He forced himself to laugh, gosh he felt awful about what he was about to do.

After they had ordered their drinks (water for Rachel, vodka for Finn—he'd need all the help he could get), he decided that it was time for him to do it.

"So Rachel, we need to talk," Finn said.

"Yes, we do, and actually that's why I was so happy you invited me out because I need to tell you something," Rachel grinned.

"Wait, just, hear me out first before you say anything. Yesterday, with Kurt, was a close call. Like a really close call," Finn grimly said.

"Don't worry, he's not going to tell anyone, except Blaine, but they won't say anything," Rachel said.

"Look, Rachel, it just got me thinking, what if Quinn had found out? Or what if Santana or Brittany had found out and told her? It could have been really bad," Finn said.

"So what, we need to be more careful?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, that's exactly what we need to do. Plus, we can't go around saying things like 'I love you,' to each other," Finn said, feeling like a total douche.

"Wait, so you think we're too serious? I don't even know what the fuck we are Finn and you're saying we're to serious? What am I to you, just some sex buddy you go to when Quinn isn't satisfying you? And by the way, I didn't even say 'I love you,' you did! And I am so happy that I didn't because then I would have made a big mistake," Rachel yelled. She quickly got up from her seat and stormed out.

"Rachel!" he called. He ran after her, "Rachel, please, you don't understand!" He grabbed her arm.

"What don't I understand Finn?" she turned to look at him, tears streaming from her eyes, "Because I think I understand perfectly. I understand that I was about to make the worst decision I could possibly make and tell you that I loved you. I was going to tell you that I was actually serious about what we were doing!"

"Rachel, I am serious too! I, shit, I love you too! That's why I can't be serious with you! It doesn't make sense, but I just, I'm marrying Quinn for heaven's sake! I shouldn't be having these feelings for you!" Finn said.

"I think you need to sort out how you feel," Rachel calmly said, ignoring the fact that her mascara was running and she looked like a sad clown hooker, "I can't keep waiting for you, I need to have a life! I need to know what kind of relationship I'm in or if I'm potentially destroying a wedding! I just, I can't keep doing this if you aren't even sure of how you feel. Every time I see you with Quinn, a part of me dies inside. You have to decide how you feel, but in the meantime, I'm not going to just sit around for you." With that, she kissed his cheek and drifted away in the sea of New Yorkers walking along the street.

He watched he leave, defeated. He didn't mean to say it like that! Finn was trying to end the relationship, not make it seem like he just wanted her for sex. He was such a dick. This proved one thing, obviously he couldn't just end the relationship with Rachel. His mouth (not in the dirty way) wouldn't let him.

* * *

><p>Rachel tried to stop the tears from continuously pouring from her eyes. She was safely home now, in the company of no body but herself. She had showered and removed all the visible evidence of a broken heart, but she couldn't get rid of the feeling that she had been used. Rachel felt like a whore now more than ever. A cheap, used whore that had fooled herself into thinking she was in some kind of relationship.<p>

A relationship that happened to be with the soon husband of her best friend, Quinn Fabray (Quinn Hudson soon enough).

She shook her head. She could not think about Quinn then, or else she'd just end up hating herself! Rachel decided that she just needed some alone time and some CNN to calm her down. She wouldn't be hung up on Finn Hudson forever.

Rachel got into some pajamas and bundled up in bed. She planned to watch CNN on her little TV in her bedroom while she cried (or maybe not) herself to sleep. Hopefully, she would feel better soon, but she didn't think that one night of CNN therapy would help.

Maybe real therapy?

* * *

><p>"Finn!" Puck came "sauntering" into Finn's office.<p>

"Puck, I'm really not in a good mood, so whatever you have to say, just don't," Finn growled.

"Woah, I knew you were gay, but I didn't know you were a girl. Stop PMSing, bitch," Puck laughed.

"What do you need Puckerman?" Finn snapped.

"I just wanted to say thanks for the advice about Rachel. If she doesn't want a slice of Pucker-pie, then it's just her problem," Puck said.

"Oh, well good," Finn smiled, in a slightly more cheery mood than before, "At least you didn't say anything to her or anything."

"Wait, why?" Puck asked.

"Well, you would have come of desperate. Or you might have given her ideas. She might have thought that you wanted to be with her or something. It's just good that you didn't give her any say in your relationship. She might have met someone else, and that would just have made you look stupider."

"You think that there's someone else?" Puck asked, "You said there wasn't."

Finn stammered, "Not that I know of dude, gee growing a vagina much? Why do you care anyway."

"I, uh, I don't," Puck grumbled, but then muttered oh so softly, "That changes things."

"OK, well I'll see you at lunch or whatever," Finn said.

"Bye," Puck replied, half dazed as he left the office.

What was that all about?

Finn went on with his work, ignoring the two nagging feelings in his gut. One, that he really needed to fix this mess with Rachel, and two, that Puck wasn't as over Rachel as he had appeared. Finally it was his break.

He went to meet Puck for lunch. When he got there, Puck was furiously texting on his phone, smirking to himself.

"What are you doing?" Finn asked.

"Just scoring some reservations to Sardi's for tonight. And then I'm making sure I don't have to wait in line at that hot new club downtown," Puck said.

'Oh no,' Finn thought. "Why the fuck are you going to Sardi's?"

Puck smiled, "Well, you know how I was totally over Rachel? After I talked to you about it—and found out I had some competition—I realized that I really like her. Plus, she was amazing in bed. Seriously, I think my eardrum almost popped from her screams. So, she told me that it her dream date would be dancing and Sardi's. So, I'm using that to my advantage to get her to be mine. I'm going to ask her to be my girlfriend tonight I think."

"What about that other girl you were seeing, well, sleeping with?" Finn asked, dumbfounded.

Puck's smile dropped, "I took care of it. I just called her before you came in. Now, I just have to ask Rach out tonight and then I'll be ready for lunch. Gotta carbo-load for what might go on tonight, if you know what I mean." He noticed Finn's dumb expression, "Sex, Finn, sex will be happening tonight."

"I got the fucking point," Finn snapped.

"What is you problem? I mean, seriously, you and Rachel are barely even friends, why do you care who she dates?" Puck glared.

"We are too friends," Finn paused, and forced himself to lie about with what he was about to say, "She's like my sister, and if I find out you're just screwing her over, then I'll kill you."

"I'll be screwing her, but I'm not going to hurt her," Puck said, "I'm going to text her now."

While Puck texted Rachel, Finn discreetly took out his phone and texted her as well.

_From: Finn  
>To: Rach<em>

_I need to talk to you about my feelings. Please call so we can meet somewhere. _

_FINN_

There, that should put a stop to this little date that Puck was planning.

"Texted her with the plans and asked if she wanted to go," Puck grinned. Finn almost felt bad about screwing up his date, almost.

Within a minute, a phone rang. Finn and Puck both reached for their phones, seeing as they had the same ringtone.

_No new messages_

.Fuck?

"Hell yeah! She said she couldn't wait! Fuck yes, OK, well I'm going to go organize some other stuff instead of eating. Sorry to skip out on lunch, but shit, Puckerman has a date tonight," Puck smirked. He punched Finn on the shoulder on the way out.

Finn barely registered this punch. He was too busy suffering the total blow he had just suffered to his heart.

* * *

><p>AN: so, I was going to make this chapter longer (with the "dream date" included), but I decided not too...anyone know where I got that last scene inspiration from? Hint, it's a show on Tuesday nights that is not _Glee_...Also, about the Puck nickname (Pucker-pie), I just love doing those! And the Klaine make out! AH love...I'm debating whether or not to do some more Brittana...God how I love them together! And I might add some Pezberry, but that's just a little idea that I have that might not fit in with the rest of the plan for the story! Obviously, as you can see, I have veered away from the book/movie with this chapter! Whenever I do phrases like ".Gaga," or ".Heck." it doesn't publish them, so I have to edit it on the fanfiction tool...So if you find any of those (there's one in chapter 6, Kurt says ".Gucci." but it appears as ".Gucci." Finn was a douche in this chapter...He will be redeemed! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Remember, the more reviews I get, the faster I write. (I got less reviews last time—the update was spaced out longer...way longer...)

Thanks!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while! I've been super busy! In response to a few reviews asking when this story will be finished, the answer is I don't know...I would like to at least have it be 10-15 chapters, but I would also love to do a sequel, so there's that possibility too. Also, someone asked why Finn didn't ask about the date that Noah had lied about. My feeling is that he was under so much stress from realizing that he was going to break up with Rachel that he didn't remember it. And also, he really didn't care why Puck was lying about where he was. BTW this story will be a whole thing of mixed emotions, so to the person who reviewed twice with the same thing, I'm sorry but that won't stop. OK hope that resolved it all.

The last scene was inspired by _Awkward..._

Mercedes is disappointing me now...She might not be included in the story as much anymore..HAHAH

Chapter title is from "You Can't Stop the Beat" in honor of the mini Finchel duet in it during "The Purple Piano Project"

I CAN'T WAIT FOR EPISODE FIVE "THE FIRST TIME" OMFG OMFG OMFG AND EP 4 "POT O GOLD" DAMIAN AHHHHHHH #corycardiac #damiancardiac

Follow me on twitter! I will try and post hints about the story and when I update I'll tweet it!

FinchelLove1218

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Something Borrowed

Chapter 8-"Cause You Can't Stop the Beat"

* * *

><p>Rachel checked herself in the mirror for the umpteenth time that night. She personally thought she looked amazing in a knee length turquoise dress that was tight in all the right places, but flowed right at the hem. Her eye makeup was exotic which was unusual for her. She wore bright blue eyeshadow with blue eyeliner and a lot of mascara. Her height had shot up thanks to the lavender six inch pumps she had on. To complete the look, she had a gold necklace with a little purple heart that her dads had given her for her 25th birthday—wow that was long ago.<p>

"Woah, Rachel Berry is a babe," Blaine appraised as she twirled around in the bathroom. Kurt had wanted to help Rachel with her impending date, but had to go into work for an impromptu meeting, so instead she had her other gay best friend help her.

She giggled and flipped her hair around just for fun. She tried to give Blaine a sultry look, but couldn't help but laugh when she saw him trying to make one to. "I'm actually really excited about this date tonight. Noah basically described my ideal date when he told me what was going on! I mean we're going dancing and then to Sardie's!"

"So what does Finn think about this whole date?" Blaine questioned, bursting her happy bubble.

"Well according to him we're just little sex buddies and our relationship is terminated, so I really don't give a fruit what he thinks."

"Are you sure you understood correctly? Wait, did you just say fruit instead of fuck?" Blaine laughed.

"I'm trying not to swear. I read an article that it gives you luck or makes you more zen or something like that..." Rachel sighed, "And I am pretty sure I got the gist of what he was saying. I'm just a frumpy little maid-of-honor that he was using for sex because he isn't satisfied with his goddess—Quinn-for some reason. I guess he just assumed that my maid-of-honor duties also applied to helping him."

"Please, that boy was in love with you Rachel. You can't be so blasé about this!" Blaine scoffed.

"You know what Blaine, I have a lovely man that will be here to pick me up in like twenty minutes, so you need to get out of here now," Rachel snapped.

"Fine, fine," Blaine held up his hands in mock surrender, "But I want all the details of your dream date with Puckerman."

"OK, now please leave!" Rachel said as she literally pushed him out of the door.

Twenty minutes later, Puck arrived, looking as sexy as ever. Maybe Rachel didn't give him a fair chance, after all she had been so enamored with he-who-must-not-be-named (Finn!) that she didn't even really take time to appreciate the fine specimen of a man that was Noah Puckerman.

"Hey babe, you look totally hot," Puck smiled.

Oh wait, maybe it was because his vocabulary consisted of "hot" and "babe."

"Hello Noah," she grinned.

"So you ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes, yes, just, um let me go get my purse," Rachel stammered. She didn't understand why she was suddenly anxious about this date. She had been so excited, but now she had a strange feeling that it wouldn't turn out as planned.

* * *

><p>Rachel had had a great time at the club with Puck, but when she thought of her dream date, she didn't think of pop music club dancing or grinding, she thought about elegant dancing that happened in romance novels or movies. She decided to ignore this fact and just focus on the fact that she was eating at Sardi's—her favorite restaurant—with an incredibly gorgeous man who wasn't married.<p>

"So basically you're going to be playing a green witch in a Broadway play, right?" Puck said, laughing as he ate some ridiculously large piece of steak.

Rachel tried not to gag at the fact that he was in fact eating with his mouth full, and instead laughed along with him, "Yes, it doesn't sound so glamorous, but it actually has been my dream since, well, forever."

"That's really cool though," Puck sighed.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"The fact that you get to do something you've dreamed of doing for your entire life. I mean, I remember I dreamed of becoming a rockstar," he laughed, "But then I became a sports writer."

"But you like it, don't you?" Rachel replied.

He scoffed, "I mean I guess. I love sports, but spending all day writing about them? Not so much. Music's always been my passion."

"Why didn't you become a musician?"

"I thought I couldn't do it. Shocking, I know. I'm a pretty cocky guy," he laughed.

"Yeah, I've noticed," she chuckled.

They continued eating, with occasional bits of conversation. Rachel hated herself for not feeling the spark that she felt with Finn when she saw Puck smile. Finn's grin always made her weak at the knees, while Puck's just made her roll her eyes—mainly because he was typically cracking a crude joke if he smiled.

She realized that maybe her and Puck were better as friends. She hoped that she didn't like him romantically just because he wasn't her type, and not because she was hung up on Finn, but she knew that that wasn't the case. If she hadn't re-kindled her little thing with Finn (if they even had a thing in college), she probably would have fallen for Puck pretty quickly. He was the bad boy she had dreamed about taming in high school, while Finn would be the quarterback she scoffed at as he danced with his cheerleader girlfriend at prom. (Not that she hadn't had a crush on the quarterback at her high school—of course she did!)

Puck and Finn were polar opposites. And Puck would be a great significant other if she weren't so in love with Finn Hudson. There was just something that connected her to Finn, and she always felt an odd pull to him.

So how could she tell Puck all of this without exposing who she was really in love with? That was the question of the day. She'd have to let him down easy, off course.

She was almost done with her salad when she felt her phone vibrate in her purse.

"Oh, one second Puck, this might be the director. I'll be right back," she smiled as he motioned that it was no problem.

She went to the bathroom and answered the call without even looking to see who it was.

"Hello, you've reached Rachel Berry, how may I help you?"

"Rach," said Finn, "I'm outside of Sardi's. I need to talk to you."

"Finn, I really can't do this now. I'm on a-"

"A date, I know," Finn interrupted, "I just can't loose you and I need to talk to you."

"Fine, I'm coming outside. You have five minutes," Rachel sighed. She thanked God that the restroom was closer to the door than her table was, so Puck wouldn't notice as she silently stepped out.

She immediately took back her gratitude toward God when she realized it was pouring. Rachel didn't understand how she didn't hear the loud thunder cracking while she was eating, but now she heard it full on. As she looked for Finn in the crowd of New Yorkers, she felt her dress get completely soaked. By now, her makeup was probably smeared all over her face. How would she explain this to Puck?

Finally, she saw him, sitting at a bench near Sardi's. She cringed when she took in his appearance. His head was in his hands and he was shaking—whether it be from being cold, or from crying, she couldn't tell. She didn't know how affected he was by "this", but this showed her that he was indeed affected.

He didn't see her as she approached, so she lightly hit his shoulder. "Finn."

"Rachel," he said. He stood up and looked relieved when he saw her standing there, almost like he didn't expect her to meet him.

She gasped when she saw his face. It was wet, obviously from the rain, but it was also blotchy and his eyes were puffy, almost like he had been crying. She ignored the clench in her gut and remembered that she had to at least try a little bit to stay strong.

"Look, I know you're on your dream date or whatever with Puck, but I just, I need to talk to you," Finn said.

"Yeah you said that on the phone," Rachel nervously laughed.

"Well, what I didn't say on the phone was this: I was completely out of line with what I said the other day. I am serious about us, and that's why I had to end things. I love you and that scares me because I'm supposed to love Quinn and I'm marrying her and it's just a huge mess. I was more serious about you then I was with my commitment to Quinn and that's why I had to end things. Uh, I just, dammit, you know how I feel about you don't you?" he stammered.

She stared at him dumbly while he growled in frustration. "I'm in love with you and I think I have since college. I'm such an idiot," he sighed.

"You're not an idiot. Don't ever let anyone tell you that," she said.

Before she even realized what was happening, his lips were on hers. She knew he had initiated the kiss, but she wondered why because they were in public and anyone could see them. She tried to make herself pull away, but the electricity that was radiating through her from the kiss prevented her from it. It was like she was limp in his arms, with no control whatsoever about what her body was doing—including the way her heart was beating. Finally, she gathered enough strength to pull away.

"W-why would you do t-that!" she stuttered, not sure if she her teeth were clattering because of the cold rain or if she was still dizzy from the kiss.

"I'm trying to show you how much I love you. I don't care if the whole world knows it, I just need you to know it! Wait, that came out wrong. I-i figure if the you know that I don't care about kissing you in public, that you'll realize how much you mean to me," Finn said.

"But Quinn..." Rachel protested.

"Quinn is a whole other mess. My main priority is fixing us," Finn said, "And call me an ass, but I care more about us right now."

"She'll be devastated," Rachel said.

"I don't know what will happen with the wedding, or with us, or with Quinn, but for right now, I know that all I've been worrying about is fixing this relationship between us, not about Quinn, not about anything else, but us. For right now, I just, I need you to know that I love you and that I'm willing to do anything not to loose you," Finn pleaded.

_Like break off your engagement with my best friend? _

"Finn, I really need to get back," she pressed.

"Rachel, I can't loose you," Finn begged.

Rachel said, "Look, you know I love you and I now understand that you love me, but I just, I can't keep doing this to Quinn."

"Rachel," Finn gently grabbed her arm as she turned to walk away, "Please, just don't go back in there with him. I need you."

She shuddered at his touch and held back tears. "I-i...Fine, but only because we really need to talk. Meet me at my apartment. Just tell the doorman your waiting for me and he'll buzz you up. Then just wait by my door."

"Really?" he asked surprised, but grateful, "I promise I'll make everything up to you."

"I have to go tell Puck something now, so I'll see you soon," Rachel sighed, not sure why she kept digging an already deep hole. Eventually, she wouldn't be able to get out, and she wasn't sure that she could even at this point.

She quickly ran back into the restaurant. As she walked in, she was happy to see that her makeup wasn't too smudgy, and her hair didn't look all that bad. Puck definitely noticed her change in appearance though when she walked in "from the bathroom" because he started laughing.

"What are you laughing about?" Rachel snapped.

"Sorry babe, but you look kind of funny," Puck said.

"Look, something happened with my friend Mercedes and her boyfriend. She's outside in a taxi waiting for me because she's completely upset," Rachel said, "So I'm incredibly sorry, but I have to go."

"Oh, do you want me to come over later?" Puck grinned,

Of course he was just worried about whether or not he'd be getting sex.

"Puck, that's the thing, no I really don't," Rachel said, not caring that she sounded like a mega bitch, "I need to tell you something, and if you want I can elaborate more later, but right now I have to go. Basically, I think that'd we be better as friends because I'm kind of in love with someone else, ok? Sorry for being so rude, but I really must go. Thank you for dinner."

She quickly left the restaurant, embarrassed with herself for saying those things to Puck. He'd been nothing but nice to her and she ended things with him like that? Whatever, she had something important she had to deal with and he was waiting at her apartment for her at that moment.

Rachel hailed a cab quicker than ever before. She sped up the stairs to her apartment and let out a breath she didn't even know she had been holding when she saw him waiting there. The smile he sent her way nearly killed her then and there, but she managed to make it to the door. She opened it and let him in, hoping he didn't sense how nervous she felt.

"Why are you so nervous around me?" Finn asked, concerned.

Crap, why did he have to know her so well?

"To be honest, I'm nervous around you because I have no idea what's going on with us," she said shakily.

"Me too," Finn sighed and sat down on her couch. She kind of thought it was cute how he felt so comfortable in her house, but she made the feeling go away and remembered why they were there: to talk.

"So, we need to talk," Rachel said.

"Yes we do," he paused, "But first, can I tell you that you look absolutely beautiful."

"No, you can't tell me that," Rachel said, blushing with tears forming in her eyes, "We aren't a couple, you can't just tell me those things like we're some sweet little couple. If you've forgotten, let me remind you. You are set to marry my best friend and I am the maid-of-honor of said best friend. We slept together and somehow it turned into some full on affair and I'm in love with you now." Shit, did she just say that all out loud?

He stared at her like he'd just been slapped in the face, but she continued on. "I just, I don't know what to do anymore! Half the time I feel like we're together for real, but then I just remember that you're engaged to Quinn. And the other half of the time I feel like I'm some other woman in some awful soap opera on TV. I need answers, Finn."

"I don't know what you want me to do," Finn stammered.

"I don't know either and that's the problem. I mean, I know what I want you to do, but I can't want that," Rachel said.

"What is it?" Finn asked, looking at her like she was the most important thing in the world.

This was it. This moment could make or break their relationship. It could also destroy her and Quinn's friendship and maybe even her self worth.

"Call of the engagement with Quinn," Rachel stated, firmly. She felt awful seeing as she was pretty much ruining her friend's life and for what, her own personal gain.

He stared at her for what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes. She felt her heart crumble just a little bit as the silence continued. "Rach..."

"That's all the confirmation I need. Please get out and go home to your fiance," Rachel said, trying to keep her composure. She knew she was about to lose it, so she hoped he left quickly.

"Rachel, it's just, I can't just do that," Finn said.

"So what? You can just do this to me? Honestly Finn, I'm done. Last time we had sex at your apartment, I remember looking at a photo of you and Quinn. I can't handle the fact that one day I might see a photo of you and Quinn and two perfect little kids right after we 'make love.' I can't be the other woman forever, and I won't do that. Not to Quinn, not to myself, and not to the perfect fucking family that you'll inevitably create with Quinn. So please, just leave," Rachel yelled.

He dropped his head and stood up. She noticed that his eyes were watery, but who the hell cared? He deserved it. Once he left, she slammed the door and fell back against it crying.

She knew he heard, but again, who the hell cared?

She didn't—not anymore.

* * *

><p>She quits her job the next day, as a sign of a new beginning. Maybe Finn was just the little push she need to get out of her comfort zone. She's excited to be starting rehearsals soon, and she really hopes that her broken heart will help her portray her character.<p>

Of course, her director screams at her for an hour because she apparently didn't give enough emotion with "As Long As Your Mine." OK, so she really doesn't want to sing some love song right now, but of course, this is just a minor setback. Eventually, she'll have an adoring husband, great children, and a big Broadway career. Her heartbreak is just a little bump in that road.

Yeah, she told herself that to get herself to sleep that next night.

So far, her new beginning is really sucking ass.

… … …

A/N: So I didn't like the end because I switched to present tense, but it was supposed to be different than the others (new beginning-present tense). It won't be like that for all of them...I hope you all liked that chapter! I know I said Finn would be redeemed, but that's partly why this chapter took so long. I had two other chapters written, but then I got rid of them because I decided to go in a different direction with the story...It still is Finchel though, so don't worry. Plus, I sort of think Finn was semi-redeemed in this chapter! Anyway, in 3 weeks updates will hopefully get better because high school swim will be over and I'll go back to my regular swim schedule (5-7 days a week, only once a day...high school swim is twice a day ugh...). Please review with your thoughts, but refrain from being hateful. I enjoy nice criticism, but mean stuff just totally ruins my confidence! Thanks everyone! Lets try to reach 100 reviews with this chapter! PLEASE :)


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 "My Loneliness Ain't Killing Me No More"

_One Week Later_

"Come on, Rachel," Quinn pouted, "It's July 3rd, and we are driving up to the fucking Hamptons. You are coming too."

Rachel groaned, "Quinn, it's just that with rehearsals and opening night coming up in a while, I just can't leave the city." That was not totally false. Rachel actually did have a lot of stuff for _Wicked _too do, but she really just didn't want to go to the Hamptons because of _him. _She was so happy she had work as an excuse not to go.

"You're lying," Quinn sneered, "I called your director the other day and specifically asked him if you had the holiday off, and he told me that you did because they were just going over some of the main parts with the understudies."

Shit. Yes, her director had given her and some of her castmates off because they had actually started doing amazing in rehearsals, but she hadn't expected Quinn to check up on that. And how did Quinn even get her director's number anyway? "How did you even get my director's number?"

"Does it even matter? All that matters is that now I know that you are lying, so therefore you have to do what I say. Honey, I'm doing this for your own good," Quinn replied.

"What?"

"I know you and Puck didn't work out, but that's ok because this trip will give you more men to feast upon!"

"Wait, how did you know that Noah and I didn't work out? I didn't tell you anything about our date..." Rachel asked.

Quinn paled, "Oh, um, I talked to him a little bit this week. He mentioned it."

"Is he OK?"

"Please, he is more than OK," Quinn sighed, "I mean, he's moved on. Not everything revolves around you!"

_Speak for yourself, bitch._

"I didn't know you and Noah were such good friends," Rachel said, somewhat suspiciously.

"We've always been close," Quinn snapped, "Why do you care? I mean, I don't judge you and Finn's friendship."

"I just don't want to go, sorry," Rachel said, diverting the topic.

"Why not?"

"I'm not feeling well?" It came out more like a question than a statement. Shit, Quinn would figure that out. She was one of the best people ever when it came to reading people.

"It's obvious that you're lying," Quinn glared, "I don't understand why you wouldn't want to come."

"I just don't," Rachel said, with a little more force than necessary.

"Wait, I know," Quinn softened, "It's OK sweetie."

"What?" Rachel asked.

"I know why you don't want to go. I didn't realize that Puck's rejection hurt you that much."

"He didn't reject me, whatever, not the point, what do you mean by 'It's OK sweetie,'" Rachel asked.

"I understand that you might bee a little envious of all the couples going on this trip—Kurt and Blaine, Mercedes and Sam, Santana and Brittany—sort of, and finally Finn and me because of the way you and Puck worked out," Quinn's smile wasn't as sincere as it was condescending,

"Wow, um, just wow, and Mercedes isn't even staying with us. She's staying with Sam." Rachel angrily growled.

"It's okay to be jealous, I mean I would be to if I were a single, thirty-year-old women among a sea of happy couples, excluding Sam and Mercedes because I mean, come on!" Quinn laughed.

"Would you stop being rude about Mercedes and Sam's relationship! It's not funny! And no, I'm not jealous, but since the whole world revolves around you, fine I'll go."

Is what Rachel should have said.

In actuality, "Whatever, I'll go."

"Great!" Quinn sighed happily, "We have to check out some wedding stuff while we're there, so that's why I really really needed you on this trip!"

"I can't wait," Rachel said through clenched teeth.

"OK, well this was a nice visit seeing as you've been MIA for a little bit now!" Quinn giggled, "I have to get back to Finn, so we can finish packing, and I'm sure you must be tired after your endless rehearsals...When's opening night again?"

"It's on August 12th," said Rachel. 'I've only told you a billion times,' she thought silently.

"Great! We'll pick you up in about two hours!" And Rachel, don't be jealous, you'll find someone! Don't worry, I'll make sure you barely come in contact with Puck while on the trip! That'd be so awkward," Quinn laughed as she exited Rachel's apartment.

Rachel let out a breath she didn't even realize that she had been holding and flopped on her couch, knowing that her July 4th weekend was going to be terrible.

* * *

><p>Luckily, Rachel had secured a ride with Kurt and Blaine, instead of Finn and Quinn as it was originally planned. They knew the whole story, and throughout the whole ride she was subjected to sympathetic looks and pity. To top it all off, Kurt let Rachel choose the music, which was something that never happened when driving with Kurt and Blaine.<p>

Once they had arrived, Rachel quickly hurried up to her room, as to avoid seeing Finn and Quinn who were most likely on the beach and having a great time. She unpacked and went to close the door so she could take a nap when someone walked in.

"Rachel," Puck said, "Can we talk?"

Rachel was momentarily stunned by his arrival, but nodded her head in response. She motioned for the bed and followed as he sat down.

"What did you want to talk about, Noah?" Rachel questioned.

"I don't want things to be awkward between us," Noah said.

"Oh, um, OK," Rachel said, confused. Why was he being so nice to her when she was such a bitch to him?

"I know you're confused, but I just, when you told me that you were in love with someone else, I had an epiphany."

Why was he telling Rachel this? "That's, that's great Noah," Rachel replied, unsure of what to say.

"No, I know you're wondering why I'm telling you this, but I just need someone to share this with. I thought we had been hitting it off, but once you said you were in love with someone else, it made me realize that I'm in love with someone else, too," Puck said, "And I've been denying it for awhile now, so you've encouraged me to not."

"Um, ok?" Rachel said.

"So basically, I just wanted to tell you that I'm not mad at you or anything, and I think we should be friends, like for real," Puck chuckled.

"Well, I'd really appreciate that," Rachel laughed. He stood up to leave and they both hugged. She was actually quite happy with their conversation, and it wasn't awkward anymore.

Maybe her weekend was looking up...

* * *

><p>Finn's weekend was going to suck.<p>

Scratch that, his whole life was going to suck if things kept on the way they were.

This last week with Rachel not talking to him was awful, and this time she wasn't just ignoring him until he manned up and apologized, she was probably going to ignore him forever (or at least not talk to him unless she's forced).

He didn't know what to say when she asked him to call of the wedding with Quinn, and he didn't really understand why his go to response was no. All he knew was that he literally couldn't function knowing that Rachel didn't want to be with him anymore and that scared him.

He couldn't just end the relationship with Quinn, but he didn't know how he could stay in it. He loved her, but he loved Rachel too. He knew that he would choose Rachel in a heartbeat, however, if it was about love, but it wasn't. He felt awful enough about cheating on Quinn in the first place, but also ending the wedding with her? That just seemed like way to much to him.

But shouldn't he end things with Quinn if he loved Rachel as much as he said (and knew) he did? What was stopping him from ending things with Quinn?

Guilt.

It seemed like guilt was running (ruining) his life at the moment. He didn't want to end his engagement with Quinn because he felt guilty, and like he was basically destroying everything that had been planned for them. He also wanted to end the engagement because he felt guilty about Rachel, and about the fact that he was even thinking about ending the engagement.

So for now, he was just going to wallow in self-pity and save the choices for later. And right now, he had a lot more than his choices to feel sorry for himself about. His weekend was about to be terrible because he was going to be stuck in the same house with a fiance that had just gotten increasingly crankier and a lover that hated his guts.

How was he going to survive?

He contemplated his options while driving to the location of his possible death. There really weren't any that seemed viable, so he decided to stop thinking all together and just drive. That worked for about fifteen minutes until Quinn whacked him out of his trance and demanded some food.

Jeez, this girl had been hungry lately!

They stopped at a little gas station and while he got some food for Quinn, she went to the bathroom to fix what she called "feminine issues." Funny, he thought she used that excuse last week, but whatever, he wouldn't question it.

He wasn't questioning lots of stuff that had happened that week. Like the fact that she didn't even come home on Thursday, or the fact that he never found out why she didn't want him to call the firm, or even why Puck lied about that date with Rachel a little bit ago (that he'd just been thinking about).

Finn found he just didn't care about anything anymore to question it. The only thing he cared about—besides his step-brother, mom, and step-dad—didn't care about him anymore and wanted out of his life, so excuse him for not wanting anything to do with life right about now.

Once Quinn had finished in the bathroom and he had gotten the food, the "happy" couple headed back on the road.

They arrived and he immediately went up to their room to unpack—sulk—and Quinn decided to go out out shopping or something.

He went upstairs and unpacked for awhile. He switched between pouting and unpacking, however, and eventually decided to go downstairs for some food.

Finn quickly wished he wasn't such a big guy that required food all the time because as he was walking to the stairs, he saw through a little crack in the door to Rachel's room, Puck and Rachel embracing.

What the fuck? He thought they were over, so why the hell were they currently dry humping in her room? (He might have exaggerated that just a bit.)

He stomped downstairs, hopping to be as loud as possible to Rachel knew he had seen. She probably didn't even care, but whatever, he at least had to try.

At least if she was concerned that he had seen, she might still care about him.

He really needed to get out of self-pity mode.

* * *

><p>After her confrontation with Puck, Rachel decided to start getting ready for the stupid bar party Quinn was dragging them out to that night. Once she was simply dressed (in a cute blouse, jeans, heals, and some makeup), she went downstairs. She felt relieved when she noticed that some of the house guests already gathered downstairs (with the exception of Sam and Mercedes, who were meeting them there) did not include Finn or Quinn. She sat between Blaine and Puck, and waited for her ex-lover to come down with his perfect wife-to-be.<p>

The pair finally came down, both looking unhappy. Quinn looked incredibly angry, while Finn, oh Finn, just looked awful. She almost couldn't handle his appearance. He had a some stubble along his jawbone, making it look like he hadn't shaved in a little bit, and although she was so mad at him, she was aching to have him kiss her and feel the stubble run against her skin. His hair was disheveled, but she wanted to desperately to run her hands through it as he pressed his lips against hers. She had to stop herself. She could tell he was hurting too, but she had to forget about that and remember that he wanted to keep her as some whore that he could sleep with whenever he wasn't satisfied with his wife. That was a turn-off.

Their eyes locked for a nanosecond and she almost ran upstairs, ready to pack up her bags and leave the Hamptons all together, but then Blaine gave her thigh a reassuring squeeze and she knew that she could handle it.

The group headed for some bar that was hosting a karaoke party and Rachel readied herself for a night of drinking. She knew that drinking seemed to lead her into bad situations, but she really didn't care all that much.

.

.

.

Wrong, she was so wrong. After her third shot of tequila and whatever else she had been drinking that night, she was totally out of it. She had always been a lightweight.

Rachel looked around and noticed Quinn sitting on Finn's lap. She couldn't find Kurt or Blaine, and Mercedes and Sam were making out at the bar. Santana and Brittany were sitting at a table doing god knows what under the table, and Puck was trying to pick up some girl, even though she knew he loved someone else. Basically, she was the only one alone, and it was Finn Hudson's fault.

Don't judge, it was the alcohol speaking.

She put down her drink for a second and noticed that the DJ on stage was now starting karaoke. She gasped—she lived for karaoke. Quickly, Rachel went and signed herself up, picking a song that she probably wouldn't have picked if she weren't drunk.

After an awful rendition of "Teenage Dream," it was Rachel's turn. She stood up at the mic, trying not to stumble despite her light headedness. Once she gathered herself, she cued the DJ to start the song.

_He left no time to regret  
>Kept his dick wet<br>With his same old safe bet  
>Me and my head high<br>And my tears dry  
>Get on without my guy<br>You went back to what you knew  
>So far removed from all that we went through<br>And I tread a troubled track  
>My odds are stacked<br>I'll go back to black_

Rachel belted the famous Amy Winehouse track with passion. She knew that the actual meaning of the song, and she felt like she could compare her crisis to Amy's with Blake. As she slid her hands up and down the mic, she stared directly at a sober Finn. The sadness in his eyes almost stopped her then and there, but like she said, she was drunk and pissed off as hell, so no, she wasn't stopping.

_We only said goodbye with words  
>I died a hundred times<br>You go back to her  
>And I go back to...<br>_

_I go back to us_

_I love you much_  
><em>It's not enough<em>  
><em>You love blow and I love puff<em>  
><em>And life is like a pipe<em>  
><em>And I'm a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside<em>

It was true, their love wasn't enough. It never was because Quinn would always be there, stopping it from amounting to anything. She kept tears from falling from her already watery eyes, and continued to glare at Finn and Quinn as she sang.

_We only said goodbye with words  
>I died a hundred times<br>You go back to her  
>And I go back to<em>

_We only said goodbye with words_  
><em>I died a hundred times<em>  
><em>You go back to her<em>  
><em>And I go back to<em>

She realized she would have to be strong throughout all of "this." She couldn't let herself become depressed or have an aversion to love, but instead be open to new things and start taking risks. She couldn't go "back to black." _  
><em>

_ Black, black, black, black, black, black, black,  
>I go back to<br>I go back to  
><em>

_We only said good-bye with words  
>I died a hundred times<br>You go back to her  
>And I go back to<em>

_We only said good-bye with words_  
><em>I died a hundred times<em>  
><em>You go back to her<em>  
><em>And I go back to black<em>

As she gave a very unsteady bow, accepting the applause of the audience, she let herself look at Finn again. His eyes were watery, and he looked heartbroken. She knew that with that one look that it was going to be harder than she thought to stay strong throughout everything.

* * *

><p>Finn's heart raced as he saw a very drunk Rachel climb on stage. She looked hot, no beautiful, up there and he just wished he had been one of the people clapping her back as she went onstage instead of having a blonde sit on his lap.<p>

He watched her start to sing, trying desperately not to think about all the things she could do with the big mouth of hers. He squirmed a bit, and luckily Quinn thought it was in reaction to herself, not her best friend.

As he listened, he realized that she was singing "Back to Black" by Amy Winehouse. He remembered once when they were in college, before Quinn, she said that "Back to Black" was her one of her favorite breakup songs, only second to "Since You've Been Gone." She explained that "Since You've Been Gone" was more of a fun breakup song, an empowerment song, but that "Back to Black" was more of a depressing song that went deeper than just breaking up. She said that to her, it was more or less the complete destruction of a relationship with no chance of a reconcile. Of course, she made sure to say that this was just her opinion on the fact and he had forgotten about it.

Until now.

Did that mean he had completely destroyed their relationship? He had known all along that he'd probably never get the chance, the incredibly lucky chance, to be with her again...He'd felt it in his heart and his gut. But having her sing that to him, that was just too much. Whenever she sang, he felt something, and right now he felt like his heart was being pulverized.

He knew he had made his choice, but he didn't know how much longer he could live with these consequences.

* * *

><p>When she woke up that morning, she felt like shit. Her hangover was a bitch and luckily, someone in the house had put some Advil and water on her beside table. She ignored the pounding in her head and forced herself to get up and take a shower.<p>

As soon as she stood, she regretted it and her headache intensified. How was she going to be up for the July 4th activities if she was hungover?

"You might want to take those pills, Berry. I don't go around doing favors for everyone," a sultry voice came from her doorway.

Rachel slowly turned around to look at who was speaking and saw none other than Santana Lopez. "Thank you," she snapped.

"Woah, someone is a bitch this morning. I thought that after you sang your sorrows out last night you might get rid of that stick up your ass, but boy was I wrong," Santana grinned, "Nice choice by the way. Not nearly as good as when I did it back in the day for my high school glee club, but it was OK."

Rachel didn't know whether to be offended or take that as a compliment, so she chose just to ignore it, "You were in glee club?"

"Captain in my senior year," Santana smirked, but then softened, "I always made fun of the losers that were in it in freshmen year, but Brit was so intent on doing it and showing off her talents that I joined with her. She said it was a little family."

"I didn't know that you and Brittany went to high school together," Rachel said, "Were you two together back then, too?"

Santana's smirk fell, "No, the people at our high school were assholes and would have skinned us for being together."

"So you two are together then? Not just sexually?" Rachel pressed.

"Why the questions? But, whatever. To answer that, yes we are together. I know Quinn likes to be a bitch and say that we're just fuck buddies, but she's wrong...There's so much more than that," Santana said, following as Rachel sat down on her bed.

"Was it hard to overcome your high school experience?" Rachel asked, wondering why she was asking all these questions herself.

"Yeah, but it made us stronger. We overcame that obstacle together, which just made us realize how in love we were and how we knew we were both serious about it," Santana said.

Rachel thought about what she had just said, about obstacles making love stronger. If only she and Finn could have tested that theory.

"Look, I don't mean to get all up in your business, but I'm going to," Santana sighed, "Did the song have anything to do with the 6'3 Frankenteen that's marrying the Ice Queen?"

"Does everyone call her that?" Rachel muttered.

Santana laughed, "Yeah...I used to like to think that she had her moments of friendship, but then I realized that those moments were only when she was getting something in return."

"I'm not sure that's exactly fair," Rachel stammered.

"Well, that's a whole other topic," Santana sighed, "All I'm interested in is the fact that you're shacking up with Groom McGassy. I didn't think someone like you would do that...I'm impressed."

"There's nothing to be impressed about because, one, it's cheating, and two, he chose Quinn anyway..." Rachel drifted off before bursting into tears.

Santana felt uncomfortable, but she awkwardly patted the tiny brunette's back and realized that maybe they could be good friends one day. "It's OK, hun," Santana drawled, "And if it makes you feel better, that boy is still head over heels in love with you. It was written all over his face during your drunken concert."

"You really think?" Rachel asked, still sobbing.

Santana pulled away and smacked Rachel on the head, "Yes, but that's not the point. You need to move on. He's not worthy if he can't dump his peroxide-drained fiance for you," Santana said, "You need to get ahold of yourself. You're hot as hell and totally single...I know that you sang about depression last night, but you were drunk! It's a whole new day! Live a little, you know?"

"Well, at least my performance last night beat the last couple times I was drunk and either made out with Blaine or Finn," Rachel smiled.

"I would have killed to see you suck face with Dreamboat Acapella Mouth," Santana said, stepping up to leave the room.

"Pretty sure I told him that is his face tasted awesome, but I don't remember and he's never said anything about it, so I guess we'll never no," Rachel laughed.

Before Santana left, she hugged Rachel, and whispered, "If you need anything, don't be afraid to talk to me or Brit...She's always liked you, even when I thought you were a loser."

Rachel smiled, even though Santana had insulted her. This weekend had actually been great so far...If only it would stay that way. After taking the pills that Santana gave her, she took the much needed shower and felt a lot better than before.

She decided that she wanted to go out on the beach. While looking out of the window from her room, she noticed that it was just Quinn out there, so she figured she could go out and avoid seeing Finn.

She put on her cutest bikini and went out to the beach. She laid her towel next to Quinn and started to get her book to read when Quinn stopped her.

"Come on Rach, we need some girl talk," Quinn smiled.

"Oh, ok," Rachel's stomach clenched. Did she know or something? Was this Quinn's high-school-cheer-captain-bitch-mode coming out? "Where are the others?"

"Kurt and Blaine are just doing some stupid July 4th baking contest with Mercedes and Sam, and Brittany and Santana are probably doing it in their room," Quinn sighed.

"Interesting, and Finn and Noah?" Rachel pressed.

"Puck is over there," Quinn smiled, but then glared, "Flirting with some whores."

Rachel was confused at Quinn's almost jealous tone, but didn't say anything, hoping to find out where Finn was.

"And Finn is at the gym," Quinn said icily.

Good, so he wouldn't be around. "So it's just us?" Rachel asked.

"Just like old times," Quinn smiled genuinely, "I have to tell you something big."

"What's going on?" Rachel asked.

Quinn looked around, as if she was worried someone would hear her, "I'm pregnant!"

"W-wh-what?" Rachel replied shakily.

"I'm going to have a little mini me! I took the test while at a gas station on the way here and I scheduled an appointment with my OBJYN."

Rachel's heart sunk lower than it ever had. If Quinn was pregnant, that meant that her and Finn had been having sex while she was with him. And, OK, so sure they were engaged, but he made it seem like he was so in love with Rachel, yet he was sleeping with Quinn. She felt like she was going to throw up—thank God for her lack of gag reflex.

"How far along do you think you are?" Rachel asked, trying to sound supportive. Instead, she was angry, hurt, and very very upset.

"Oh I don't know, maybe a month and a half or so," Quinn sighed happily.

That would be May, right? Which would be the Hamptons right? Or was that too early? That would mean that it could have been before her and Finn were serious, and she found out that he had slept with Quinn in the Hamptons. OK, but what if it wasn't that? "Have you told Finn yet?"

Quinn's entire demeanor changed, from happy to nervous, "Um, not, not yet. I'm waiting for the meeting with the doctor."

"Why?"

"Well, I'm not exactly sure if it's Finn's..." Quinn trailed off.

What the hell? "What do you mean, you're 'not exactly sure if it's Finn's...'" Rachel whisper shouted.

"OK, so well, the last time Finn and I had sex was that first weekend in the Hamptons, but I've actually been sleeping with someone else for a while now," Quinn said, guilt in her voice.

"Do you think it's Finn's?" Rachel asked. She knew she was sounding entirely too interested, but she had to know.

"No," Quinn said, tears falling from her eyes, "I know for a fact he wore a condom that night, but with P—the other guy, I'm not sure if he did the first time we had sex. It was in the moment, you know? And I've been forgetting to use my birth control pills, so I might have forgotten that night. And, I've done it more with that guy in the last month and a half than I have with Finn."

"Who is this guy?" Rachel questioned.

"When I tell you, you have to promise to not be mad at me," Quinn said.

"Ok, I promise not to be _too _mad at you," Rachel said.

"Puck."

"What about him?" Rachel replied, cluelessly.

"Puck is the man I've been sleeping with and maybe the father of this child," Quinn stated.

"Oh my God," Rachel breathed, "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck."

"You said you wouldn't get that mad! And I mean, come on, you two were pretty loose with your relationship! I mean, you didn't even know if you two were exclusive for awhile!"

"I'm not mad, I just don't know how you're going to solve this one," Rachel sighed, "Are you going to tell Finn?"

"Fuck no. I don't care if that baby comes out with a mohawk, I will go to my grave claiming it is Finn's."

Wait, say what? "So you don't think Finn deserves to know that his little bundle of joy might not even be his little bundle?"

"One, I don't even know if it isn't Finn's, and two, what's with the sudden lecturing?" Quinn glared while adjusting her position on her towel to turn more toward Rachel.

"I just don't think it's right to keep him in the dark about this," Rachel said, feeling very hypocritical, "I mean, are you going to continue with the affair or stop it?"

"Can we just stop talking about this?" Quinn said, and when Rachel didn't reply, she huffed, "You know what, fine, I'm going to go for a swim then."

Rachel watched as her friend left, still in shock from what she had just told her. Quinn had been having an affair with Puck, and she may or may not be pregnant with is child. Should she tell Finn? She didn't know if she wanted to tell him because of her own moral compass or for her selfish reasons. If he knew about Quinn cheating, he wouldn't feel bad about ending the wedding. This changed everything.

But could Rachel really do that? She understood that her relationship with Finn was wrong, but telling him a secret that Quinn had entrusted her with just seemed like the tip of the iceberg.

Would she be telling him for his own good, or for her personal gain?

* * *

><p>Finn frowned as he looked at the outfit Quinn had put on the bed for him to wear that night for the party they were all going too. It was preppy, nothing like Finn, and had Fabray written all over it. He hated it.<p>

He put the awful outfit on and realized that his dislike of it probably had to do with his sour mood in general, and not because of the actual outfit. All day he'd felt like he in pain. He felt like crying every second, his heart clenched whenever he smelled Rachel's perfume wafting in the hallway, and he desperately wanted some Slim Jims—his go-to heartbreak tool in high school.

He went to the gym at 5:30 AM that morning in order to avoid everyone in the house, and had stayed there until mid-afternoon. Quinn had been calling him every hour or so to "check-in," but when the clock struck four, she called and demanded that he come home so that way he could have "adequate time to get ready for Carly Smith's July 4th party."

As he walked downstairs, he noticed that Rachel was sitting alone on the bench outside. He quickly walked outside so he could corner her. He knew he should be giving her space, but he couldn't handle it with her being right there.

"Hey," he said, sitting down next to her.

She didn't look at him, but he saw her tear-stained cheeks and puffy eyes and was alarmed, "Rachel, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Finn," Rachel said, sniffling and wiping her eyes, "Seriously, nothing. Thanks for asking though."

"Look, I know that last time we talked I completely ruined everything, but..."

"Finn, I need to tell you something," she interrupted him, "But I can't." She turned to him and looked him in the eyes.

"What, Rach, you can tell me anything," Finn replied, concerned.

She felt like she was at a crossroad. She could either tell him about the pregnancy, or she could lie and say something else. Even if they didn't end up together, he needed to know about the baby. If he and Quinn did break up because of it, Rachel would feel awful, though, but she'd feel worse watching Finn be an amazing father to a baby that he thought was his.

She was about to say something, when a icy voice cut her off.

"Finn, I need to talk to you."

* * *

><p>Quinn thought she could trust Rachel with the information about the baby. They'd been best friends for years, and even though Quinn knew that Rachel had always been jealous of her, she never thought it be bad enough for her to try and destroy her wedding.<p>

OK, so Quinn knew in her mind it wasn't because Rachel was jealous, but because of Rachel's kind heart. Rachel could never lie to someone, so of course she'd run and tell Finn—not out of spite, but because it was her caring self.

So that's why Quinn wouldn't be mad at her—for now.

She glared when she saw Finn and Rachel sitting on the bench from the kitchen window. She quickly ran out there, in order to put a stop to the lie coming out.

She'd have to tell Finn now, or else pay the consequences later.

"Finn, I need to talk to you," Quinn said in a fake sweet voice. She needed to tell him now, or else she wouldn't be able to manipulate him later.

"Quinn, can this wait?" Finn sighed, "Rachel is trying to tell me something."

"Oh, really Rachel, what were you going to tell Finn?" Quinn glared at her friend.

Rachel cowered under Quinn's intense stare, "U-um, just about that fact that my dads might not be able to make opening night."

"Awh, how sad," Quinn said, "So with that said, Finn I need to talk to you."

"Can't you see she's upset, Quinn? I mean, I'm not going to leave her," Finn snapped.

"Fine, then I guess I'll tell you both the happy news," Quinn smiled directly at Rachel, "Finn, I'm pregnant, and Rachel, I want you to be the godparent."

Rachel's mouth formed an "O" as she watched Finn's face. He looked so confused, but at the same time, he was glowing. "T-that's great Quinn," she shakily said, "I'll leave you two alone."

Quinn watched Rachel's retreating figure with a sense of accomplishment. She thanked the Lord that her bestie came to her senses and didn't say anything about the true father of the baby.

"Aren't you excited, Finny?" Quinn sneered, "You get to be a daddy! We're going to have one of our own."

"I-i don't understand. We always use protection and we haven't had sex in a while," Finn stammered, his whole world spinning.

Why was he acting like this? "I'm a about one month and a half along," Quinn out a hand on her belly, "And I guess in the heat of passion, we just forgot. Oh well, our accident made a new beginning. A beginning that we get to be apart of." Wow, how did she come up with all of that crap? This was good, even for her.

She sat down on the bench next to Finn and hugged him as happy tears ran down his face. She was so happy that she had him, or better yet, that she had fooled him.

Quinn Fabray wasn't going to let some silly affair ruin her relationship with the perfect man for her.

After all, she was a perfectionist, and Noah Puckerman was anything but perfect.

* * *

><p>AN: Favorite chapter to write...just saying. Some of you may not like the direction I have taken with the story, but I just started writing and this is where it went! It's kind of spun-off from SB and into something that's kind of Babygate/Desperate Housewives...I hope...I added some Pezberry because even though I'm mad at Santana on the show, I have a soft spot for Pezberry friendship. The Puckleberry, well that's just for fun. Don't worry, this is a Finchel fic, and I am fully prepared for any criticism that you all may have of this chapter/direction I have decided to take this story!

Please review with your comments!

Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or SB...and chapter title is from Britney Spear's "Stronger."

"Back to Black" lyrics in italics...Belong to Amy Winehouse


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 "It's Time to Bring this Ship into the Shore"

* * *

><p>Rachel sighed, annoyed, as she ignored yet another text-invite to go baby shopping with Quinn—one, she was at rehearsal and two, she didn't want to see Quinn (preferably ever again). Quinn knew that Rachel was mad that she was lying to Finn, but of course, it was Quinn so she didn't see Rachel's anger as anything but a minor issue, something that would be resolved with shopping and espresso.<p>

Well not this time.

It had been about three and one-half weeks since July 4th (it was now July 29) and Finn hadn't talked to her since. He was going to be a father, why would he bother himself with his mistress anymore?

She knew there was no hope for her and Finn anymore, not with the baby on the way. She couldn't bear to tell him it wasn't his kid, as she remembered his happy face as Quinn told him the news. He glowed for the rest of the day, and ignored her ever since. Rachel wasn't one to mope about this though, so instead, she focused solely on the fact that in in thirteen days, she'd make her Broadway debut.

She became more and more excited with each rehearsal. Now it was more of just practicing with all the costumes, making sure they knew how to deal with press, and technical issues that could quickly be resolved. Her director had been praising her lately on her depth of emotion in "I'm Not that Girl" and she didn't want to tell him it was because it was basically her life, and not her acting.

Rachel shook of the feeling of depression that she got whenever she sang, or even thought about the song because it reminded her of her tryst with Finn. God, she needed to stop thinking about him.

She shook her long brunette mane and focused on August 12, opening day. She watched as her Fiyero—an amazing performer named Jesse St. James—belt out "Dancing Through Life" with Glinda, an annoyingly gorgeous girl named Kim that was actually quite nice, even if she lacked the vocal capability of Ms. Rachel Berry.

Rachel looked on stage and realized that she didn't need Finn Hudson to be happy, she just needed herself—well specifically herself on Broadway.

This was where her heart was now.

* * *

><p>Finn sighed as he waited at the doctor's office. Quinn was in the middle of her first prenatal appointment, and she didn't want him to come in for some reason. He mindlessly flipped through <em>Parents <em>magazine and let his thoughts drift to Rachel as he saw a little toddler with brunette curls and a smile that brightened up the whole photo.

He had wondered what there kids would look like, of course, that was before the pregnancy, but still, he couldn't help but think, "what if?" He couldn't abandon Quinn, especially now, but couldn't he not abandon her but still be with Rachel? There were many parents that made the whole "divorce" thing work, and even though some people were weird about kids being raised in that environment, Finn didn't see the awfulness of it if he helped raise the child and he wasn't a deadbeat.

He knew that having separated parents wasn't the best thing for a child, but would it really be better for the parents to be completely unhappy with each other? He sure didn't think so, and he and Quinn weren't happy.

And it wasn't just one-sided. Quinn was even more irritated with him than usual, always screaming at him for not living up to her expectations or some shit like that. He tried to blame it on hormones, but then he remembered that she'd been like that forever, so it couldn't be new.

They had bonded somewhat after she gave him the news. They went home later and decided that after the wedding, they were going to buy a house in the suburbs. Finn and Quinn also bought some onesies together, but that was about it. After the shock had worn off, they went back to acting terrible to each other, and Finn didn't think he could keep it up much longer.

He also had been avoiding Rachel, duh. He couldn't face her after she found out about the pregnancy, and he never found out what she wanted to tell him. He also couldn't face her because all the guilt would eat him up, but now it wasn't guilt for Quinn, it was guilt for the cute little bundle of joy he was about to have.

Finn was, to say the least, overjoyed at the thought of being a dad. He'd always imagined himself playing football with a smaller version of himself (boy or girl) or even attending dance competitions (boy or girl—Kurt taught him that). He felt awful that he had screwed up the kid's chance for having parents with a healthy marriage, white picket fence and all.

He knew what he had to do, and it wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

><p>"So what's the deal with you and Puckerman now anyway?" Santana drawled while sifting through clothes.<p>

Yes, Rachel and Santana were shopping together. In a shocking turn of events, Santana had actually been sincere at the Hamptons, and the two had gotten incredibly close, especially with Rachel ignoring Quinn (and Finn?).

Rachel laughed, "We're just friends. He's going through a hard time right now, and I'm just helping him through it."

After Quinn had told Finn about the baby, they sort of told everyone at the Hamptons. Puck was heartbroken, especially since he realized that he loved Quinn and wanted to be with her. Luckily, when Rachel talked to him about it, he didn't question her when she said that Quinn knew (thought) the baby was Finn's.

He was however, depressed that he had lost his chance. He knew that Quinn would never go for him now that she had a baby on the way, and he had opened up to Rachel a lot about it in the past few weeks. They had become very good friends—though she knew that that was all they'd ever be. Even without Finn in the picture, she just couldn't ever see herself with Puck.

"Sure, you're 'helping him' alright," Santana laughed.

"Anyway, have you talked to Quinn recently?" Rachel changed the topic.

"Yeah, but only because she's trying to figure out what's wrong with you. I guess some friend of hers told her that she saw you, me, and Brit at Starbucks two weeks ago, so now she thinks I've stolen you or something," she replied.

"Well, I guess I need to talk to her eventually," Rachel said.

"Can I ask what your mad about? You haven't told me, and it's kind of weird since you announce everything else to the world always," Santana asked as she looked at a cute red top.

"It's nothing," Rachel said dismissively.

"Does it have to do with the kid? Cuz I think it's a scam."

"Oh please San, it's a real child!" Rachel laughed, although Santana was sort of right—it was a scam, just not what Santana thought.

"I just think it's interesting that this happened now, before the wedding especially. You'd think Fabray would make sure she wouldn't be a pregnant bride, but you never know. She proved me wrong."

"I just hope she's ready for that."

"She isn't and you know it," Santana sighed.

"Hopefully she'll grow up by the time the baby comes," Rachel sadly said.

"Changing the subject, are you excited for your big day?" Santana squealed as she picked out some clothes to try on.

Rachel put back a pair of jeans she had liked, as they were way to pricy, and said, "Yes! Yes! Only one more week!"

Suddenly, Santana heard Beyonce's "Run the World (Girls)" and said, "One sec B, someone's calling me."

Rachel looked at some more clothing items and didn't pay much attention to Santana on the phone. She was, however, startled when Santana jostled her shoulder a few minutes later.

"Rachel."

"What? Who called you?" Rachel asked.

"Quinn. Something has happened," Santana said with a glint in her eye.

Rachel's stomach dropped, imagining that something happened to the baby or Finn. "What's wrong?"

"Finn called the wedding off."

* * *

><p>AN: So sorry about that chapter, literally my least favorite. Like I said, it was a quick filler that was necessary for upcoming chapters. Hope this chapter isn't too disappointing! This fic should be done in about 2-3 chapters, depending on if I change some stuff from my outline. I hope you all liked the last chapter (chapter 9). Some of you guys may not be happy with adding babygate in this story, but come on, in the actual book _Something Borrowed_ there's a mini "babygate" esque plot, so I just decided to spruce it up Quinn Fabray style.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 "Just You and I, Defying Gravity"

* * *

><p><em>August 12<em>

Rachel looked at herself in the mirror one last time. She had transformed into the Wicked Witch of the West, and she couldn't wait to get on stage and show everyone just who Rachel Barbra Berry was. She wasn't nervous, not even the slightest. She knew she was ready, and even if she had had a very tough week, she wasn't going to let it bring her down.

When Santana told Rachel the news, she was shocked. She was still ignoring Quinn, but it was getting harder and harder especially with the news that Finn had broken the engagement. Every day, Quinn called more and more, but Rachel couldn't handle it, just not for the reason that Quinn suspected.

Well partly.

Rachel was still disgusted with Quinn for doing what she did, but she was more disgusted with herself for actually "succeeding" in breaking up Finn and Quinn. OK, so it wasn't like she actually planned to destroy them, but she did and she felt terrible.

She glanced at herself and couldn't believe what she had done. She'd become as bad as Quinn, and she just couldn't accept that. He didn't leave Quinn because he found out about the baby—according to Santana, Quinn said Finn said it was because they weren't happy anymore. So that meant that he left Quinn for Rachel.

Yet, he hadn't contacted her yet. He'd continued with his avoidance just like before, and now it had been a little over a month since she had talked to him and it was making her sick. What would happen now? Was he just going to try to pursue her? What would Quinn think as she saw her ex and her best friend (ex too?) date? That wouldn't end well, and Quinn would destroy her.

Or what if he just decided he wasn't happy with Quinn and Rachel and wanted a new single life. Rachel wasn't sure if she could stomach that anymore than she could take when he was with Quinn.

And what about the baby? He wasn't one to leave a kid when he was (or he thought he was) the dad, so why would he leave Quinn when his (Puck's) baby was on the way? How would that even work out if he did date Rachel?

So many questions.

"No," she said aloud as she looked in the mirror, "You can't think about that now. Don't let Finn and Quinn control you even more than they already have."

With that, she left her dressing room and went to get ready for the start of the show.

* * *

><p>The rush of being onstage was incredible, more so than anything she had felt before (well, except her time with Finn). As she spoke her first few lines, any thoughts of Finn and Quinn vanished from her mind and she completely immersed herself in the play.<p>

She became Elphaba, completely forgetting about anything that was Rachel Berry. As she sang "I'm Not that Girl," she didn't connect it to Finn like she had every other time she had sung it, but instead she connected it to Fiyero.

Rachel didn't even remember intermission by the time the show was over, and as the audience applauded and gave her a standing ovation, she was overjoyed—it felt like nothing she had ever experienced before.

She was glowing as she removed her makeup after the show. Of course, her makeup took forever to remove seeing as she was green, but she finished in time to walk out to sign autographs with Jesse and a few of her other costars.

She was immediately flooded with people, which filled her with pride and accomplishment. Rachel didn't expect that many people to want her autograph, since she was new to the production, but as she signed Playbill after Playbill, and other Wicked memorabilia, she was proven wrong.

After all of the fans had left, she saw a tall dark figure coming over in the dark. Her other costars had all left in limos for the after party, so she guessed that this person was a fan of hers.

As the figure got closer, she realized it was Finn. Her heart started pounding uncontrollably and her palms felt sweatier than they had previously when she was signing things for fans.

She forced herself to speak, "Enjoy the show?"

He smiled at her, that lopsided grin that made her knees weak every time. He pulled a pink tulip from behind his back. "You were incredible Rach, as expected. I know that you told me in college that your favorite flowers were pink tulips, so I got you one because I was reading on this website that one means ultimate devotion, you know? But then I also read that cream tullips mean more than pink, so I got confused, so I just decided on the pink because I know how much you like them," he rambled, which reminded her of the young boy he was in college—nervous, but adorable of course.

She smiled and accepted the tulip, a feeling of warmth exploding in her chest. She missed this man so much and loved him more than she ever imagined she could love anyone. But...

"Finn, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I called of the engagement with Quinn. I know that she's pregnant, but I'm still going to support the child and be a great dad. I just, I need to be with you. I love you so much and I can't imagine being with anyone else. Like, in high school, my mom always talked about being tethered to somebody, and how that would happen to me one day. I never felt that with Quinn, but with you, I just, I feel that completely. I hated not speaking to you or having to be with you behind everyone's backs. I want to tell everyone how much I love you because I can't keep it in any longer. I love you too much to be away from you, and I know I screwed us up. I was such an assh—jerk to you and I don't even know how you'll ever forgive me...I just really want to be with you and I hope you can," Finn said. His eyes were watery and pleading.

"Before you say anything else, about Quinn or the baby, or anything, I just want you to know that I left Quinn because I wasn't happy with her and because I want to be with you. I'm not scared of commitment and I'm still going to be the best father ever to that little kid, I just can't be with Quinn anymore because I need to be with you. I won't abandon the baby, but I won't abandon you either. Please, Rachel, find a way in your kind, compassionate heart to forgive me. I feel like you're the only person in the world who's ever believed in me. From the day we met, you've inspired me to be a better person and I know that I've been a bad example of that lately, but I want to change. You're the nicest, smartest, most talented, and most beautiful girl I've ever met and I think probably in the universe."

She suddenly went on her tiptoes and kissed him. It was a gentle kiss, but it was filled with so much passion that Rachel was getting lightheaded. He pulled away and whispered "I love you so much" against her lips.

She shuddered, "I think we need to talk. Let's go back to my apartment."

He nodded and waved a cab so they could go talk at her place. They got in the cab and were oblivious to anything around them.

If only they were more careful about who was lurking by.

* * *

><p>Rachel quickly opened the door to her apartment and told Finn, "Just sit on the couch, I'm going to get some water real quick."<p>

He was confused, but agreed. He knew that she only drank water when she was sad, so why was she drinking it now? Had he misinterpreted their mind-blowing kiss that just happened?

"Finn I need to tell you something," Rachel choked out as she drank her water.

"Anything," he replied.

She gulped, "So before we talk about our relationship, we need to talk about the baby."

Was she going to make him choose? Could he? "Go on."

Rachel figured she just had to spit it out, even though she felt awful doing so. She wasn't using it to her advantage, so she really wasn't doing anything wrong, right? "It might not be yours."

Finn's entire demeanor changed, from happy to confused. What the fuck was she talking about? His mind was swirling and his vision was becoming a little blurry, "What do you mean?"

"I really didn't want to be the one to tell you this," Rachel said as tears ran down her face, "I just, I can't handle seeing you like this when you're being lied to!"

"What are you talking about Rachel?" Finn's voice raising higher, to the point where he was almost yelling.

"Quinn told me about the baby before she told you in the Hamptons. She told me that she was pregnant, but that she didn't think it was you because you guys she was on the pill and she thought you used a condom. But there was another guy that she was with..." Rachel paused as Finn became angrier and angrier.

He couldn't handle what she was telling him. He wasn't angry that Quinn had cheated, he was angry that she was lying to him about the baby. Or not, but either way, she was leading him on to think that it was his kid. What happened if it wasn't? Twenty years later, would she have told him when their son or daughter was all grown up? Or would she have just let him be the idiot of the family, with the kid that he loved so much not being him?

"Before you get angry, just, see it from her side. She didn't want to hurt you and she's still unsure on the paternity," Rachel pleaded.

"Are you seriously defending her? You knew and you didn't tell me, and now you're trying to protect Quinn? Who's the guy?" Finn yelled.

Rachel cowered, "Finn..."

She had to know. Why was she protecting Quinn and the asshole who may be the real father? He couldn't imagine why she wouldn't tell him, unless...

"It's someone I know, isn't it? Someone who you wouldn't want to get hurt," Finn yelled, his face getting redder and redder.

"Finn, you need to calm down. We can talk about this, you just need to s-stop yelling," Rachel cried.

Oh fuck, she was scared of him. He couldn't control his emotions though, and continued, "Just tell me who Quinn fucked."

She was sobbing at this point and he wanted to take her in his arms and make her happy. But he couldn't, not right now when he needed to know whether or not he was a father or not. Why wouldn't she tell him? He knew it had to be someone he knew, but who did he know that Rachel would try to protect.

Wait a second.

"I'm going to fucking kill him," Finn growled and headed toward the door of Rachel's apartment

"Wait, Finn, please," Rachel sobbed and tried to grab him.

He shook her off and ignored her as she cried harder and harder as he slammed the door. He couldn't take her crying, and he felt awful, but he couldn't control himself right now. He was seeing red, and all he wanted to do was make a punching mat of his supposed best friend.

Quinn had been the girl that Puck was loosely seeing, and apparently he knocked her up in the process (maybe).

* * *

><p>Rachel couldn't believe what had happened between them. One moment, Finn was apologizing, and the next, he was slamming the door and on a mission to kill one of her best friends.<p>

Noah. She had to warn him.

She called Noah, hoping he would pick up. He didn't, probably because his phone was dead or something. She knew he was home though, and if she took a cab, maybe she could go and try to break up the fight that was bound to happen between him and Finn. Noah didn't even know about the baby, and he shouldn't find out like this.

Rachel quickly grabbed her jacket, when a knock on the door stopped her in her tracks. Thank God, Finn had come to his senses.

She opened the door, and was prepared to say something when she felt something cold slam across her face.

Rachel's eyes watered, but she opened them enough to see Quinn standing at her door with a menacing look on her face.

"Can I come in? Thanks," she icily said as she shoved Rachel aside.

Oh no, oh no, oh no.

"Quinn," Rachel started, but was cut off.

"Rachel, Rachel, Rachel. Where is he?" Quinn yelled, "Where is he?"

She figured she should try ignorance, "Who? What are you talking about Quinn? What are you doing here?"

"Oh please, Rachel, don't play the innocent act with me. It's pathetic, just like you. I always knew you were a loser, from the moment I laid eyes on you in ninth grade. I only asked you to sit with me in our sophomore year because I was on my period and therefore emotional that day. I felt sorry for you because I had Dave Karofsky slushy you," Quinn snarled, "So answer my fucking question, where is my fiance?"

"He isn't here Quinn," Rachel choked out, "I-i'm so s-sorry, Quinn, you have no idea. I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Just shut up Rachel. You've always wanted him, it was obvious. I ignored it, knowing Finn would never go for a girl like you, but I guess I was wrong about him. His standards must be lower than I thought," Quinn yelled.

Rachel started to speak, but Quinn cut her off again.

"No, I don't want to hear your obnoxious voice. Just tell me where he is and I'll leave your life forever. You're dead to me," Quinn screamed.

Rachel stopped crying. She was furious now. Who was Quinn to tell her Finn wouldn't go for a girl like herself. "He's on his way to Puck's, you know, your possible baby-daddy," Rachel growled. She wasn't a malicious person, but she was done letting Quinn walk all over her.

Quinn paled, "You little bitch. You told him, didn't you? That's why he left me for you! Well, I hope you're happy. He only left you because I cheated on him."

"He didn't know until tonight Quinn, after he came to me to beg for my forgiveness," Rachel snapped. OK, so she really needed to stop because she was sinking right down to Quinn's level, but she just couldn't help herself.

"How long have you been fucking my boyfriend behind my back?" Quinn got dangerously close to Rachel.

"Quinn, I understand that you're upset right now, but I really need to get to Puck's," Rachel said calmly, not allowing Quinn's close proximity to scare her, "Finn's furious, as he should be, and I don't want either of them to get hurt. I'm leaving. You can either go there too, and try to stop the mess that you created, or stay back like the coward you've always been."

Rachel swiftly maneuvered around Quinn, careful not to push her or do anything that might harm Quinn's baby.

She slammed the door, leaving her former friend in her apartment. She knew that that wasn't the smartest thing to do, but she wasn't going to let Finn do something he might regret.

As she got in a cab, she saw a figure that looked like Quinn's leave the apartment building and breathed a small sigh of relief. At least her apartment wouldn't be getting trashed today.

* * *

><p>Finn banged on the door to Puck's stupid little penthouse apartment. "Puck, I know you're fucking in there, open the door."<p>

The door opened immediately, and Finn got even more pissed as he looked at his ex-friend. "Yo, man, why the pissy act? You PMSing or something?" Puck grumbled.

Yeah, not the right thing to say.

Finn shoved Puck roughly and stepped inside his apartment. "No Puck, I'm not fucking PMSing," Finn growled.

Before Puck could even register what was going on, Finn punched Puck right in the jaw, "That was for fucking my fiance."

Puck tried to retaliate, but Finn then punched him in the stomach, "That was for dating Rachel."

He fell to the ground, trying to breath. Puck felt terrible about being with Quinn, and he felt even shittier that he loved her. But why would Finn attack him for dating Rachel?

Finn then kicked him in the ribs, "And that, asshole, was for getting Quinn knocked up."

Wait, what? Quinn was pregnant? And she didn't tell him about it? As Finn kept kicking him, Puck forced himself up.

Finn felt Puck punch him right in the face, and was startled, but didn't loose his ground. Suddenly, someone was pulling him off.

"Finn! Noah! How could you two do this?" Rachel whimpered.

"How'd you even get in here, Rach?" Finn sighed.

"Noah told me where he keeps his spare key," Rachel said.

"Berry, you need to leave," Puck snapped, glaring at Finn.

"No, we are going to talk about this like adults. I'm not going to let you guys beat each other to death. You're supposed to be best friends."

"That was before I found out that my supposed kid wasn't mine, but that it was Puck's," Finn yelled.

"I don't even know what the fuck you're talking about Hudson, get that through your dense head," Puck glowered at Finn.

"See Finn? He doesn't even know what you're beating him up about. Obviously, there's some explaining that needs to be done," Rachel said as calmly as possible.

"Noah, Quinn is pregnant. She doesn't know if it's yours or Finn's because she had sex with you around the same time frame," Rachel said.

"And thanks to Rachel, both of you know now," a new voice came in.

"Quinn?" all three of them said simultaneously. Rachel had forgotten to shut the door apparently because the source of their anger had barged in.

"How could you not tell me that I might be a dad?" Puck angrily asked.

"I still don't know. And even if it turned out to be yours, I wouldn't have told you," Quinn said, tears falling down her face, "I'm sorry Puck, I really am. It's just, I was about to get the wedding I'd always dreamed of with the perfect man for me. I couldn't give that up for a man who's more scared of commitment than me."

Finn's yelled, "So you thought it would be OK to just lie to me for the rest of my life?"

"Shut the hell up Finn," Quinn sneered, "I know all about your affair with RuPaul."

Rachel's resolve broke and Finn seethed. How could Quinn come in here and spin everything on him? And insult Rachel at that?

"Don't you dare call her that Quinn. And I may have cheated on you, but that doesn't make it right that you hid the fact that that kid may or may not be mine," Finn glared.

"Wait, you had an affair with Rachel?" Puck asked confused.

"Yes, Puck, I did and I'm in love with her. More than I ever was with Quinn," Finn screamed at Quinn.

"How could you come in here and beat me up you hypocrite?" Puck yelled as he advanced toward Finn. Rachel stepped in front of him, luckily, and prevented any more of a violent confrontation.

"Quinn, I know I'm a terrible person for what transpired between Finn and me," Rachel cried, "And I just need you to know how sorry I am."

"Save it for someone who cares, Rachel," Quinn snapped.

Puck ignored what had just happened and instead focused on the fact that he may or may not be a father, "So wait, are you going to do a paternity test?"

"Not until after the baby is born," Quinn said, "There are too many risks involved if I do it beforehand." She said this so self-righteously that Finn was even more furious.

"So we're just supposed to let you string us along until then? Well news flash Quinn, the world doesn't revolve around you. I'm going to live my life and if I find out the kid's mine, you'll hear from me then," Finn said and with that, he left.

* * *

><p>Rachel quickly followed after him, aware of the holes Quinn was burning in her back with her eyes.<p>

"Finn," she called as she saw him get in an elevator. She couldn't tell if he heard her or not, but she luckily got in the elevator just before it shut.

"Rach, I am so sorry," Finn said as he pulled her into a hug. She inhaled his scent, realizing just how much she missed his comforting arms.

"We still need to talk," Rachel sighed. She pushed the stop button and prayed that an alarm wouldn't go off. It didn't, so she started talking.

"Finn, I am so sorry I was the one that had to tell you about the baby," Rachel said as she bit her lip, "I really didn't want to because I didn't want you to think that I was doing it for personal advantages."

"Rachel, I could never think that," Finn said as he pushed some of her straying hair behind her ear.

She shivered at the contact, but continued, "As for our relationship, I think we need to go slow, maybe take some time apart."

His face dropped, "What are you talking about?"

"I just, I don't want you to feel like I'm pushing you to be in a relationship with me," Rachel said, "When I gave you that ultimatum, it was an out of body experience, and I feel awful about it now. I am overjoyed that you want to be with me, but I just hope that I didn't force myself on you."

"Rachel, that's crazy," Finn said, "I want to be with you more than anything else in the world. I love you more than you can possibly imagine and when I think of the future, I think of you and me on top of the world."

Rachel suddenly kissed him again and he eagerly responded. This kiss was rougher than the last one, and who knows how far it could have progressed if the elevator hadn't lurched down, signaling that the elevator tech must have unstopped it.

"I love you, Finn," Rachel said and pecked him on the lips as they made their way out of the building and on route to Rachel's apartment.

_The end_

* * *

><p>AN: Hey guys! Sorry the last chapter was so short, but like I said, it was a filler chapter. I hope the fight scene wasn't too messy...It was kind of hard to write, but I hope I got it right! Please review with your thoughts! An epilogue will come soon, don't worry!

I had so much fun writing this story! It was my first Finchel fic, and I have many more ideas to come! All of your reviews were so helpful and kind! I hope you all enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. A sequel could happen, depending on the response from all of you. I'm figuring either a collection of cute one-shots, or a multi-chapter fic that could get a little angsty at times. I do want to know how Quinn will retaliate...Anyway, review with your ideas or even PM me!

Chapter title from "Defying Gravity" from Wicked..I don't own the song, nor do I own Glee or Something Borrowed (DISCLAIMER)

Thank you all so much!

~Elle


	12. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_One year later_

Rachel giggled as her boyfriend of one year fed her ice cream, getting some sprinkles on her upper lip. He purposely spread some across the bottom of her nose to make a mustache.

"Finn, stop!" Rachel laughed.

"What, you don't want the paparazzi to catch a Tony award winner with an ice cream mustache?" Finn chuckled as he sat next to his tiny girlfriend on a bench in Central Park.

Rachel blushed as he said that and breathed a happy sigh. Everything was working out now, it seemed. She and Finn had purchased an amazing apartment in the Upper East Side two months ago and were almost completely moved in. As Finn had said, she had won the Tony Award for "Best Performance of a Leading Actress in a Musical," one of her dreams since, well forever. Sure it wasn't the four she had dreamed of, but right now, as a thirty-ONE-year old woman, she was completely and utterly happy with her life.

She was still on _Wicked_, playing a role she loved. However, there were talks of a _Funny Girl _revival, and one of the possible producers had talked to her about playing Fanny Brice...

As for the children, she wasn't sure when she and Finn were going to be ready for that, seeing as they weren't even engaged yet. The baby had turned out to be Puck's, surprise surprise, and as she still kept in contact with Puck, he and Quinn were apparently happy with their little baby girl—Beth. They were on-and-off relationship wise, but their relationship with Beth never was rocky, according to Puck.

Quinn. She hadn't talked to her best friend since the day that she found out about the affair. Rachel missed her like dearly, but realized that life did go on. She had reached out to Quinn for many months after the fight, but Quinn never returned her calls, emails, and yes, letters. On the day Beth was born, Rachel called her again, but of course, it was to no avail.

Puck was still one of her very good friends though, so she got weekly updates about Beth and how life for them was going.

"Oh shoot," Rachel said as she heard her phone ring, "That's probably Blaine, you know, this is only the second time I'm a maid of honor, but I think I'm a really sucky one."

"I think you're a great maid-of-honor," Finn winked.

"If not fulfilling her duties and sleeping with the groom is in the job description then yeah, I guess I am," Rachel pouted.

"Can we not think about you sleeping with Blaine or Kurt?" Finn laughed.

"I have to go," Rachel sighed as she stepped up, "Want to walk with me to some tux place?"

"Do you even have to ask? I'll just go throw these cups away real quick," Finn grinned, "You just wait here and try not to let a bunch of people fall in love with you."

Rachel laughed. 'As if that would ever happen,' Rachel thought to herself.

She was sitting there, minding her own business when she saw a tall, blonde woman with a stroller walk past her.

"Quinn," Rachel shouted and stood up.

The blonde turned around, obviously not realizing who it was.

When she saw who it was, she almost looked like she was going to turn around. After a long pause, Rachel walked over to her.

"Rachel," Quinn said uneasily.

"Beth is beautiful, I mean I've seen pictures, but in person it's even more obvious," Rachel smiled.

Quinn smiled back, "I know, I think she got the perfect blend of me and Puck."

"She has your smile," Rachel grinned.

"Yeah and luckily she didn't get the Jew nose from Puck's mother," Quinn said, "Or else it might look like yours."

Rachel faltered for a second, but regained her strength, "Look Quinn, I've told you before, I am very sorry about what happened, but I just, I hope one day you'll be able to forgive me."

"Sure," Quinn sneered, "I'll be able to forgive for throwing yourself at the best thing that ever happened to me besides Beth and making him leave me."

"I didn't throw myself at him," Rachel said, "But that's beside the point. What happened between me and Finn was wrong, but I'm not going to let you act like I'm some harlot."

"But aren't you?" Quinn snapped, "Rachel, I don't want to forgive you and I never will."

"Look, Quinn..." Rachel started, but she stopped at the look on Quinn's face.

"I guess you won in the end," Quinn sadly frowned and turned away.

Rachel turned around and saw Finn coming toward them with a confused look on his face.

Quinn had already started walking away, but Rachel said loud enough for her to hear, "It was never a game, Quinn."

Rachel turned back toward Finn, who by that point was close enough to her to wrap a comforting hand around her. "Babe, what was that?"

"Quinn and I talked for a few minutes, that's all," Rachel softly said.

"If that's all, why are your eyes watering and your hands shaking? That only happens when you're about to cry..." Finn asked, concerned.

At that moment, Rachel didn't feel upset anymore. She had Finn, and she could ignore everything Quinn said about her because she knew she had his love.

"No, I'm perfectly fine," Rachel said, and linked arms with him, "You ready to go?"

Finn nodded and they made their way through Central Park.

She was happy, and not even Quinn could bring her down.

* * *

><p>AN: So that was the real "last" chapter, I guess...It's short, but sweet. I know that Rachel winning a Tony after only being on Broadway for a year may be a little unrealistic, but it's fiction...And Lea is incredible, even if she didn't win the Tony for _Spring Awakening_...She's literally my favorite artist/singer...Anyway, Lea fangirling aside, I hope you all enjoyed the epilogue...I have an idea for a sequel in mind. It WILL NOT be like Something Blue, as it won't be about Quinn...Well, she'll make appearances, but it won't be about her and Puck (or in the book's case, Darcy and Ethan). It will be angsty, and yes, fidelity will be a major part. I understand that that is a recurring theme in the story (as well in the sequel), but that's kind of the point. Here's a sneak peek at the maybe summary...

Rumor Has It

They say a cheater is always a cheater, but of course, Rachel knows that can't be true with Finn. Her faith in him isn't wrong—it can't be wrong.

So that's the summary, unless I change it of course! Some of you may be mad about all the crap Rachel has to deal with, but once you read it, you'll see! It most likely won't be that long..Review with your thoughts please!

Thanks!


	13. Author's Note about Sequel

Author's Note: Hey readers! Sorry I haven't posted the sequel yet, I've had some major writer's block with this story! But I have an outline now, so I'll try to post the chapter as soon as possible (and as soon as I write it!).

However, I still have to post the next chapter of "We Can Burn Brighter than the Sun," so after that I'll start "Rumor Has It." (check it out if you haven't! It's Finchel of course!)

Ok thanks guys, sorry to have kept you waiting.

I'll post another note on this when I post the sequel! If you want a specific time, it most likely will be sometime after the 20th (of February) because I'm off for winter break then!

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR READING THIS STORY! 


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